


To Be A Hero

by Razztam



Series: Mistakes [1]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Action/Adventure, Blood and Gore, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Magical Accidents, Multi, Potions Accident, Temporary Character Death, Time Loop, Time Travel Fix-It, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-16
Updated: 2018-01-23
Packaged: 2018-04-09 17:08:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 69,669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4357424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Razztam/pseuds/Razztam
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of events push Feliciano to the limit, trying his courage, persistence, and mental strength. Feliciano finds himself forced to suffer through his 2P hurting everyone he loves, and must find ways to stop him with some magical help. Saving lives is difficult, and even though Feliciano wants to give up like he always does, he knows he can't forgive himself if he does fail to save his friends and family. To think, this all was caused by him accidentally drinking an opposite personality potion.<br/>Long story short: Luciano wants to kill everyone Feliciano loves after Feliciano does a couple things to him after drinking an opposite personality potion. Feliciano has to deal with the aftermath and save everyone. Also, Olivia helps a bunch with magic shit.<br/>TLDR: Feliciano's about to get into deep shit with his 2P.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Olivia's Basement

Feliciano Vargas awoke to the ragged sounds of his own breathing. He opened his eyes slowly, and his vision darted around the room he was in, staring at the horrifying scene before him.

The drip of blood from hanging bodies spiked his fear, and he was too afraid to take notice of the people around him who were trying to calm him down.

He was sure he would get nightmares after this. He would wake up scared, and crawl into Ludwig’s bed, and hug him until he calmed down… And Ludwig would hug him, tell him it’s alright, and that he would scare the bad dreams away. After then, Feliciano would feel safe in his strong arms; safe enough to fall back into a dreamless slumber.

But currently, this was not the case, nor was it of much importance right now. Right now, he had to escape the shackles keeping him imprisoned in Olivia Kirkland’s basement. The place was littered with blood and dead bodies, hanging here and there, or left in corners of the room in a bloody, fleshy heap. He didn’t want to be here, not one bit. He was scared. He thrashed against the cuffs surrounding his wrists, not caring that they were rubbing jaggedly against his skin, causing them to redden. They were beginning to hurt, as well as his ankles, for they were also trapped against the dissection table as he tried to kick against them. This did nothing, because he still was immobilized. At least Olivia had the decency to attach him to a clean table… He was sure he wouldn’t like getting blood and innards all over his clothes.

“Oh dear…” Olivia muttered as she stood there, watching this display of panic happening before her. Feliciano already began to scream upon seeing the British baker, alternating between hyperventilating and choked sounding sobs. The poor man had already been down in this basement, which was why he was so scared. Olivia’s actions had traumatised him, causing him to fear the colour red and avoid it at all expense, and he now screamed whenever he saw her.

For some reason, he kept mistaking Arthur’s opposite personality potion for a bottle of wine. On the other hand, it _was_ kept in a wine bottle rather than a flask… This reason was why he was strapped down here in the first place. He wasn’t sure how he acted under the potion. He didn’t remember anything about being under it. From what the other nations told him, his opposite personality was incredibly malicious. This was why he was at Olivia’s basement again; to remove the opposite potion from his body.

The strong and metallic smell of bloody, rotten corpses crept into his nasal passage. It was only taunting him cruelly, reminding him that all these people were dead because of the woman who was entrusted to remove the opposite potion from the inside of his digestive system. His breath hitched at this realization. His eyes widened, and he trembled more.

Olivia quietly left the basement by then, walking up the wooden stairs so she could give Feliciano some time to calm down. She left him with Matthew, and Feliciano’s older brother, Lovino, who both tried to comfort the screaming Italian.

_I just want to go home!_ Feliciano felt hot tears prickling in his eyes, then felt them streaking down his cheeks. He had to escape. He began to screech, panicking as all thoughts left him other than one, “I want to go home! I want to go home! Please, I want to go home!”

“Someone shut him up!” A voice shouted. It was neither Feliciano’s, Matthew’s, nor Lovino’s. It sounded male, and was too sharp and loud to be Matthew’s. Plus the fact that it had an Italian accent. Not as high pitched as Feliciano’s, and he knew it definitely wasn’t his brother’s voice either.

Momentarily quieting down, Feliciano turned his head to the direction where he heard the voice, which happened to be the dissection table right beside him. He hadn’t noticed another person here other than Matthew and his brother. He blinked when he saw the familiar features and fuchsia coloured hair. He tried to steady his voice and calm down enough to stop crying so he could formulate a proper sentence or two, “Luciano? W-What are you doing here…?”

That didn’t help to lessen his fear at all when he noticed it was his 2P counterpart, who was just as murderous as Olivia, or possibly even _more._ But he soon calmed down when he realized Luciano was chained up just like he was.

“I don’t know! My stupid fratello won’t tell me!” Luciano responded.

Feliciano was about to tell him about how Lovino wouldn’t tell him what happened when he was under the potion either, but was interrupted by the sound of Olivia’s voice ringing from upstairs, “Romano! Canada, love! Can you come up here for a minute?”

Matthew and Lovino looked at each other and began walking up the stairs to see what Olivia wanted, but not before Matthew mumbled a small apology for leaving Feliciano alone with only Luciano as company.

As he heard the door to the basement shut, Feliciano began to speak again, his verbal tic coming through, “Vee… Fratello wouldn’t tell me either, when I woke up. And now I’m here again, but I don’t want to be. It’s scary here…” He shuddered at the memories.

Luciano scoffed, “It’s not _that_ bad. I’ve seen worse.”

That was certainly believable.

“So, how did _you_ get here?” Luciano raised a brow, looking up and down at Feliciano’s restraints.

What happened before he woke up here? Oh, that’s right. For some strange reason, he woke up at Lovino’s house, not remembering how he got there. Lovino wouldn’t tell him, and left the house. He soon returned with Matthew and Olivia, and Feliciano screamed when he saw her. He tried to run away, but the last thing he remembered was a sharp sting in his leg before it went numb, and heard the Canadian mutter an apology. Feliciano looked back before he fell unconscious to see Matthew was holding a tranquilizer dart in his hand.

Remembering this, Feliciano answered Luciano, “They knocked me out and brought me here when I tried to run away…”

“Oh, well one minute I was asking Olivia if she could give me some spare… Ingredients, over some wine… Then I woke up here.” Luciano explained what happened to him.

Feliciano shivered at the word ‘Ingredients.’ He knew what Luciano meant by that now. He was talking about dead people, murdered for their blood and body parts.

“When I woke up with Lovi, there was sticky stuff on the bed and he wouldn’t tell me what it was…” Feliciano tried to change the topic.

Luciano’s eyes widened, “Oh… What sort of sticky stuff?”

Feliciano thought back, remembering the sticky white stuff, and the salty smell in the air that likely came from the substance. He described it to Luciano in the hopes that maybe he would know what it was and actually tell him. His 2P listened to Feliciano speak. Then, Feliciano began describing how his posterior was also hurting at that time, as if something had been stretching it from the inside. It was an odd and slightly painful feeling.

“No wonder he didn’t want to tell.” Luciano smirked after Feliciano was done explaining, “Do you want me to tell you?”

There couldn’t be any harm in Luciano telling him if he figured out what happened, right? He did want to know. So he nodded innocently, “Okay.”

“You guys probably fucked.” Came the blunt answer.

“W-What?”

“Yep.”

“…So I’m not a virgin anymore?” Feliciano asked softly, after a moment of silence from processing the information he was told.

“Nope.” Luciano shook his head.

He was fairly innocent, and only was taught about copulation recently by his German friend. It was a topic he didn’t go too far into, so it was shocking to discover the possibility that his virginity had been lost, by his own brother, and he didn’t even remember it.

On the contrary, however, what he didn’t yet know was that he’d already lost his virginity long before. To Ludwig. It occurred when he was under the potion, which was another reason the potion had become quite a problem.

“How the fuck did this happen?”

Luciano’s voice brought Feliciano out of his thoughts, and he looked over at his counterpart. Luciano was staring down at a large cut from his thigh to his shin.

“I don’t know…” Feliciano stared uneasily at the injury, concern lacing his voice, “…What are they going to do to us?”

“Beats me. Those two are some of the strangest 2Ps I know besides my stupid fratello.” Luciano said, “Don’t you think it’s strange, though, that one minute we drink wine, and the next we wake up in random places?”

Feliciano nodded slowly. Come to think of it, it _was_ pretty odd to wake up in some different place than he last remembered. He didn’t think much of it, usually soon forgetting about it afterwards. But now that Luciano pointed it out, he tried to think about that weird occurrence more.

“Well, Oliver told me while crying and saying sorry over and over that the wine I drank was actually a potion that reversed personalities. If that's true… Then you could have drunk the same thing.” Luciano said. “And that being said… You're pretty innocent… So that would have turned you into a full-fledged rapist.” He smirked at his 1P, “Great job.”

Feliciano whimpered. He tried to take in what was said and tried to make sense of it. Magic was an odd thing, and he knew little about it and how it worked. Maybe it was possible that such a thing as an opposite personality potion could exist, but how would it manage to turn him into a… _Rapist_? Maybe Luciano could have been exaggerating, and taking a wild guess just to scare him.

Well, it certainly worked if it was his intention to scare him even more.

Another silence fell over the two. Then Luciano spoke once again.

“Hey, Feliciano?”

“Sì?”

“Can you help me figure out why I’m strapped down here? My head still hurts for some reason…”

“I think it had something to do with that potion you talked about before.” Feliciano said. If he was here to get the potion taken out of him, then Luciano must be here for the same thing, right?

Luciano nodded, “Sì… I found some wine and it looked fancy. I had it tested for poison. It turned out negative, and I decided to drink some so I could deal with those annoying bakers.”

“So that means it turned you into the opposite personality when you drank it?” Feliciano tilted his head.

“Sì… I wonder what I did…” The other Italian trailed off, thinking, “Now, how did I get gashes all over my body? I’ll assume if Oliver was crying and apologizing, he was the one who did it… But why?”

Feliciano scrunched up his nose in thought, trying to think of a cause to why it happened, “Maybe because of something you did under the potion?”

“Well, duh. But what would I do?”

“I don’t know…”

“What do you think I’d do?”

“I told you, I don’t know…”

“Then think!” Luciano snapped, “I’m out of ideas, because if I was nice, then why the fucking hell would I get stabbed!?”

“I don’t know!” Feliciano whimpered, cowering as much as his restraints could allow him to.

Luciano sighed in exasperation, “You need to learn how to toughen up…” He was scowling at him in irritation, “Alright then, tell me about yourself and then ask me what I would do. That might help me find out what happened. Okay?”

That made sense, since 2Ps were mostly the opposite of their 1P counterparts.

Feliciano nodded, “Okay.” He tried to think of a question. One thing that popped up in his mind, was when he was training with Ludwig, he asked Feliciano and Kiku a question. “Oh! Germany asked me this before: What would you do if the enemy asks you to surrender? I would surrender immediately, form an alliance, kiss their butts, sing, eat, and go to bed!”

Luciano only rolled his eyes, “Kill the bastard.”

“Uh….” Feliciano moved onto the next question, coming up with another one, “What would you do if you saw a cute little kitty cat? I would pet it, and hug it, and play with it!”

“Send it for animal testing.”

“…What about if you found a plate of pasta? I would eat the pasta!”

“I wouldn’t trust it. I’d make my own, with some… Special sauce.”

The corners of Feliciano’s mouth curved down. He shivered, understanding what Luciano was talking about now as well. Blood.

There once was a time when he was so innocent, and didn’t understand what was meant by those kinds of things. And a time when he considered Luciano his friend. Although, that seemed like such a long time now… But he forgave him anyway, for that time when they reunited and Luciano seemed to not recognize him as the friend from his childhood, instead trying to kill him.

But that was a story for another time.

“…Uh, do you know what happened to you yet?” Feliciano asked.

“I still don’t know…” Luciano shook his head as he trailed off. “Wait… How much do you flirt?”

“Eh? A lot! Especially if they’re really pretty girls!” Feliciano smiled, thinking about pretty women he had flirted with in the past.

It was clear the gears in Luciano’s head were turning, thinking about this further, “Hmm, and I’d rather not get involved. But if my personality was reversed, and Oliver is really protective of Olivia, then… Oh hell, no!”

“What?” Feliciano tilted his head, not understanding what Luciano was getting at.

“I might have… No, I wouldn’t… But then again, you normally wouldn’t fuck your brother…” Luciano mumbled. Feliciano whimpered, being reminded of the possibility that he had sex with Lovino under the potion.

“Might have what?” He asked.

“Hit on Olivia…” Luciano said, “What’s your rules on flirting…?”

“Rules?”

“What do you usually do? And to who?”

Feliciano thought a bit, “Well, I usually compliment pretty girls and ask if they want to eat pasta with me.”

“Do you think Olivia’s pretty?”

“Well… Sì, but she’s scary sometimes!” Feliciano shuddered, remembering how she simply cut into those bodies with her butcher knife, executing it so easily as if it was nothing.

If _he_ had to do that to someone, it would feel so unnatural for him. He wouldn’t be able to bring himself to do it anyway. Just killing someone like that, taking a life when it wasn’t their time, taking someone away from their family, friends, and loved ones… He never wanted to do that to anyone. He understood as a nation, he had to, for the sake of his own people when in war… But he, as himself, as Feliciano Vargas, hated war. He knew what it was like to lose a loved one to war.

Luciano raised a brow, “How is she scary?”

“She just is!” Feliciano exclaimed.

“No she isn’t. I can show you what scary is.” Luciano flashed a sadistic smirk at Feliciano, causing the Italian to cower more.

“No thanks…” He whimpered.

“Aw, come on.” Luciano rolled his eyes, “I can kill way more people than both of them combined.”

More people than both Olivia and Oliver combined? Suddenly, Feliciano remembered why he should be scared of Luciano again. He whimpered more.

“What’s wrong?” Luciano asked.

“I want to go home…”

“And so do I, but guess what? Not going to happen.” Luciano deadpanned.

Feliciano felt himself frown a little at that, “Why do you have to be so negative?”

“Because I can.” The 2P replied flatly.

“We should still have at least _some_ hope, though!” Feliciano tried to smile brightly at Luciano.

“I don’t think so. These chains are magical for some weird reason, and country-proof. When I tried to pick the locks, the damn things melted the lock picks!” Luciano exclaimed, sounding irate.

“Oh…” Feliciano said dejectedly, pouting, “So what are we supposed to do now, then?”

At that moment, the door to the basement creaked open again. The clacking of multiple footsteps meant more than one person was coming down the stairs. “Don’t worry, poppets!” Olivia was coming down with Oliver, both holding recently sharpened knives. She smiled, “This won’t hurt a bit!”

Feliciano was not looking forward to what was to come. Another sleep inducing cupcake was stuffed into his mouth by Olivia. His eyes widened for a second, but soon began to close shut, and his world faded to black.

***

A loud slam from the basement door shutting again jolted Feliciano and Luciano awake, as Oliver and Olivia left to go upstairs once they finished removing the potion from the two Italians. Feliciano gasped, wincing at the pain in his stomach.

“Ah… Does your stomach hurt?” Luciano asked, seeming to be enduring the same pain.

Feliciano slowly nodded his head.

“They stitched you up. Great. You have a giant scar from your navel to your chest.” Luciano said, looking over at Feliciano. He continued, “And your arm has stitches too. Looks like they used us for cupcake ingredients.”

Once again, Feliciano shivered at the mention of ‘cupcake ingredients’.

“So, what else did you do when you drank that wine?” Luciano asked.

“Huh?” Feliciano blinked, but was happy the subject was being changed. “What do you mean?”

“Well, if you had it more than once, I don’t think your fratello is the only one you fucked.” Luciano said.

Feliciano scrunched up his nose, both in disgust and the struggle to think. He tried thinking back, seeing if he could remember one little thing of what happened when under the potion. As expected, nothing came up. Just some gaps here and there where his memories should have been, “I don’t remember…”

“Hmm… Where else did you wake up?” Luciano asked.

Feliciano thought back again, “On the sidewalk a couple times, and on the bed with Germany—” He was interrupted by Luciano laughing loudly. Feliciano frowned, tilting his head, “Why are you laughing…?”

“No reason.” Luciano said, then smirked as he mumbled, “Except that you probably fucked Germany.”

“W-What!?” Feliciano stared at him, the corners of his mouth pulling down even more as he blushed from the realization that it was completely possible that that might have happened.

“And everyone else you came into contact with.” Luciano added, causing the innocent Italian to whimper. Could it really be possible he’d have sex _that_ much when under the potion?

Luckily for Feliciano, Luciano changed the topic again. Although, to an equally non-desirable one, “Are you comfortable with the fact that there are dead bodies hanging over you?”

Feliciano stiffened. He hadn’t bothered to look above him, and he certainly dared not to now. “T-There are dead bodies hanging over me…?”

“Sì. Oh, looks like someone’s stomach is sliding out.” Luciano said, looking up at the body above Feliciano.

The cut open cavity indeed had a stomach slowly sliding out of it as the Italian underneath it was whimpering. He let out a yelp when he felt something vile-smelling, and slimy fall on his face. He felt like throwing up, knowing it was the stomach that fell on him.

“Hm, it looks kind of split open.” Luciano commented, looking at the organ on his counterpart’s head.

Unknown to either of them, that very stomach contained some undigested opposite potion inside it. Since it was split open, the liquid began leaking into Feliciano’s mouth, as it was still slightly open from gasping and whimpering. He coughed when he tasted it, trying to spit out whatever it was that spilled into his mouth, but it only made it go down his throat even more. He cringed at the odd taste, but couldn’t help but feel like there was something in the stomach juice that he tasted before…

Luciano smirked as he watched, “Enjoying yourself?”

Feliciano shook his head, shivering, “N-No… I want to go home…”

“Well good luck with that. ‘Doitsu’ can’t save you now.” Luciano grinned, mockingly taunting his 1P with his use of the Japanese word for Germany, as Feliciano would sometimes call him ever since Kiku taught him the word. He thought it was such a cool thing to call Ludwig.

Feliciano didn’t respond, simply whimpering to himself. Suddenly, the whimpering stopped, and a long silence followed afterwards. Luciano raised a brow at this. Usually, his counterpart wasn’t this quiet. Even when he wasn’t talking because of how frightened he was, he would be whimpering, or making his annoying ‘Vee~’ sound at least in some kind of scared-sounding tone. This made Luciano somewhat suspicious and uneasy in a way.

Then, the 1P Italian turned towards Luciano with a sly looking grin, his eyes open for once. It was odd to see Feliciano smirking like that. It could have even sent shivers up someone’s spine when they saw the cheerful Italian looking mischievous, or even malicious like this.

“Ciaooo, Luciano~” Feliciano purred. Even the tone of his voice changed. Was there a hint of seduction in there too? And did his voice actually get slightly _deeper_?

Luciano raised a brow, “Che cazzo?”

“Aw, what’s wrong?” Feliciano asked, still smirking at his counterpart.

“You.” Luciano said flatly.

Feliciano faked a pout, “Aw, that’s not very nice… You know, it’s such a shame we’re trapped here. Well, a shame for you. I could do so many _nice_ things for you.” He grinned.

Luciano frowned, “Holy crapola… You’re the rapist inside my 1P.”

The opposite potion induced Italian only chuckled darkly, “You know, it’s not rape if they were willing.”

“I don’t think they were…” Luciano said.

“Germany was. So was Romano~ They really enjoyed my _sausage_.” Feliciano grinned, as if he was proud of the fact he had sex with the two of them. Which, he was, actually. Especially with the fact that he actually topped his brother and somehow managed to get him willing to do it with him.

Luciano rolled his eyes, “Because they’re weak and gave in. And that makes you a whore.”

“Aw, that’s not nice.” Feliciano gave another fake pout, “Maybe if I shoved my sausage in your mouth, you’d be all nice and quiet, and not say mean things like that.”

Luciano shuddered, “No thanks. I’d rather chop off your cock and shove it down your own throat.”

Feliciano continued to taunt his 2P like this, irritating Luciano even more as he did. As the perverted Italian continued to voice his fantasies with Luciano out loud, Luciano noticed the handcuffs that bound him were slippery with blood. Ignoring whatever the opposite personality was lewdly talking about now, Luciano began working to slip his hand out of the restraints. Finally, he managed to slip his hand out and reached for his knife.

“Mm, and all the sheets clinging to our hot, sweaty bodies~” Feliciano continued his fantasies, a dreamier smirk on his face.

Luciano stared at him and frowned, stepping towards him, “I don’t think that will happen…”

“And why not?” Feliciano grinned. The next thing he knew was that he had the blade of Luciano’s knife thrusting into him, shooting a sharp pain up his nerves. Fortunately for him, because of the potion, any pain he felt was only registered as sexual pleasure.

Luciano frowned. Because of this masochistic tendency that the opposite potion gave Feliciano, stabbing him wasn’t going to be much fun if all he did was moan out in pleasure like this. It conflicted against Luciano’s sadism. Nonetheless, Luciano pulled the knife out of the wound he made and stabbed Feliciano again, slowly cutting downwards.

However, one thing led to another, and because Feliciano’s handcuffs were slippery from the blood as well, he managed to break free. He pinned Luciano down to touch, tease, and tug his curl enough so that he convinced him to have sex with him, resulting in a variety of different activities. Being as stubborn as he was, Feliciano didn’t stop until Luciano reach orgasm for a third time already. Feliciano was wrapping his hand around Luciano’s hand, making Luciano stroke himself slowly after the 2P came, “Didn’t you enjoy that?”

Luciano growled, even as he panted softly, and threw Feliciano’s hand off of his own. He grabbed his knife and sliced off his counterpart’s hand, rather messily as blood spurted out of him, “I wish I hadn’t.”

Feliciano moaned erotically and smirked, trying to reach over and take Luciano’s knife away with his other hand, “Why not?”

“Stabbing is what I do best for fun, not your version of fun.” Luciano simply cut off Feliciano’s other hand as well, leaving only two bloody stumps. Feliciano moaned again from this, but suddenly stopped, his eyes widening for a few seconds and then blinked a couple times before closing his eyes like how they normally were.

The potion had worn off.

Wincing, Feliciano whimpered, not remembering why he was in pain or how he managed to escape his restraints. If he knew what he would have seen if he were to open his eyes, he would have been grateful his eyes were now closed.

“V-Vee… W-What happened…?” Feliciano asked softly.

Luciano smirked when he realized Feliciano was back to normal. “Oh, this just got more fun…” He grinned, and quickly strapped his counterpart to the dissection table, fully intending to take advantage of his vulnerability in this confused state.

“W-What? Let go of me! Why are you doing this?” Feliciano whimpered, not bothering to try to wriggle free because of this incredible pain in some places that he had no idea just _why_ it was hurting there.

“It’s my turn to have fun… And I’ll do Olivia a favour.” Luciano grinned, using his knife to cut apart the flesh of his counterpart, opening up his stomach. The intense pain caused Feliciano to gasp out and scream as he writhed in agony, tears flowing down from the pain as he begged Luciano to stop. Luciano only continued tormenting Feliciano, “Come on, Feliciano. Scream for me.” He grinned sadistically.

In reality, he was actually only opening up Feliciano’s stomach to get the opposite potion out of him. But the screams of pain he was getting were a nice bonus, too.

“Don’t worry.” Luciano picked up one of the giant needles that were used to suck the potion out of them before. Feliciano’s eyes widened in fright, tears blurring his vision as Luciano pushed down the plunger of the syringe, grinning as he thrust the needle into Feliciano’s stomach. “I’ll make this as _slow_ as possible.”

Feliciano let out a squeak of pain and discomfort. Trembling, he managed to gasp out, “W-Why are you doing this to me!?”

“Shhh…” Luciano silenced the other man, “It’s for your own good.” He gradually pulled up the plunger, sucking the opposite potion out of his stomach.

The tears managed to subside for Feliciano, although he still kept his guard up out of fear. He was still somewhat confused as to what Luciano meant by this. Deciding to voice his puzzlement, he asked in a small voice, “W-What do you mean?”

“You turned into your opposite again, but since I can’t punish him…” Luciano grinned, pushing the sharp needle into Feliciano’s body further.

Feliciano gasped, a choked sounding sob surfacing as he teared up from both pain and horror, “I-I’m sorry!” He squeaked. He couldn’t handle knowing what the potion turned him into. It frightened him.

“Aw, too bad. Oops.” Luciano said sarcastically, with a sly smile as he suddenly jerked the needle around painfully in Feliciano’s flesh before taking it out. The poor Italian squeaked, unable to really do anything else. Luciano eyed a large sewing needle on the table as he set down the syringe, “Hm, I shouldn’t leave you cut open like this… This should do the trick.” He smirked, holding up the sewing needle.

Feliciano’s eyes widened when he saw how big the needle was, cowering more. Seeing as Feliciano couldn’t formulate words from how scared he was, Luciano continued to speak, “Oh, but first, I should clean your wounds. This ought to do the trick.” He held up a bottle of vinegar that was also on the table, “Don’t worry, this won’t hurt a bit.”

He poured it onto his wounds, causing Feliciano to wince from the sting on his opened flesh. He muttered sadly, “I-I want to go home…”

“Not happening.” Luciano said. He grabbed one of Feliciano’s bloody stumps where he cut off his hands, pouring the vinegar onto there as well, “Hey, did you know I made you swallow your own cock?”

“V-Vee!?” Feliciano stared at him, then hissed in pain once again from the vinegar.

“Check if you want. I cut it off.” Luciano shrugged and picked up Feliciano’s dismembered hands off of the floor. As he began sewing them back on, Feliciano stared down between his bare legs. There definitely was something missing down there. In its place was a large pool of blood; the spot was _still_ bleeding.

Feliciano winced. He wanted to throw up… But if he did, who knows what might come back up from his stomach? He wearily looked up at Luciano and asked him, “W-Why?”

“Because I _did_ say I would chop off your cock and stuff it down your own throat…” Luciano continued to sew, smirking when he pushed the needle deeper than needed, “But eventually, though, you got to me.”

“W-What do you mean?” Feliciano asked.

Luciano stopped sewing, leaving the needle embedded in his counterpart’s flesh, “This.” He reached up and yanked on Feliciano’s curl and kissing him square on the lips before going back to sewing. “You are much cuter this way, you know.”

The sudden kiss left Feliciano wide-eyed. He stared at his 2P, feeling hot blood rush to his cheeks. He tilted his head, staring at him, “W-What…?”

“Sì.” Luciano snipped off the thread and began working on the other hand, “But I also enjoy seeing you in pain.”

“I don’t like being in pain, though…” Feliciano whimpered.

“Exactly.” Luciano stabbed the needle into Feliciano’s hand roughly, making him squeak again.

“T-That’s not nice…” Feliciano said.

“It is for me.” Luciano grinned. He continued to sew, and his 1P only kept whimpering. “Oh, don’t be like that.” He reached up to tug Feliciano’s curl while stabbing and sewing him back together with the needle. Feliciano winced and moaned at the same time, his body confused by the conflicting sensations of pain and pleasure.

“…H-Huh?” He tilted his head.

“You’re very important to me, Feliciano. I don’t want you to get hurt… But that doesn’t mean I can’t see you in pain.” Luciano said, now working on sewing his stomach back together.

Wait, _what?_ As he winced, Feliciano stared at Luciano confusedly. Since when did Luciano care about him? Why did he suddenly change like this…? What in the world _happened_ when he was under that potion? It was all too confusing and strange for him. He blinked, “O-Okay, then…”

“Aww, you’re just too irresistible.” Luciano cooed, leaving the needing in a flap of Feliciano’s stomach skin to reach up and stroke the captive Italian’s curl. “You’re adorable. Xiao would hate you…” He lifted up Feliciano’s chin, “But I don’t.”

He blinked again, staring blankly at Luciano. He couldn’t truly believe this was coming from him, “R-Really?”

“Sì, you’re too sweet to hate.” Luciano stared back at him with half-lidded eyes. He yanked on Feliciano’s erogenous zone, the sensitive strand of hair twirling around the darker Italian’s gloved fingers. It caused a wave of pleasure to crawl up Feliciano’s spine, and he mewled. Luciano leaned toward him pressing his lips against Feliciano’s, capturing him once again in a soft kiss. And, once again, Feliciano’s eyes widened as he made small, but confused-sounding, moaning noises.

As the kiss was broken, Feliciano gasped for air; his head was light, dizzying from the lack of air combined with pleasure from the stimulation of his curl. “Tell me, Feliciano, is this enjoyable?” Luciano whispered in a husky tone, tugging at the other man’s curl more.

Feliciano blushed, his breathing laboured, “I-I guess it is…” He admitted. Luciano smirked, pleased at this answer, and kissed him again. Gently, his lips moved against Feliciano’s. It contrasted against the harsh tugs on Feliciano’s curl, causing Feliciano to gasp out and moan louder than he ever really intended to.

Suddenly, Luciano broke away from the kiss, picking the needle back up again from the flap of skin, “Hm… If I want it rougher, I’ll have to patch you back up.” He stabbed Feliciano with the sharp metal as he sewed, “But I still like to see you in pain.”

Feliciano pouted at Luciano, “But I told you, I don’t like being in pain…”

“And I told you that I like seeing you in pain.” Luciano countered. Feliciano sighed when Luciano snipped the end of the thread on his stomach when Luciano was done sewing, thinking it was over. He tensed when he realized he thought wrong as Luciano said, “I still have to clean it, you know.”

He poured some more vinegar onto the now closed wound. Feliciano hissed softly, gritting his teeth as he began to breathe heavily. He watched Luciano carefully when he was done cleaning his wounds.

“Now…” Luciano took out his knife, tracing the cool steel blade along Feliciano’s jawbone, “Where were we?”

Before Feliciano could react, the door to the basement swung open. “What are you doing, poppet?” The feminine voice asked; Olivia descended down the stairs.

“Nothing.” Luciano grumbled. He got off of Feliciano, which exposed his still bleeding and naked body.

Olivia stared at the poor Italian, who was still restrained on the dissection table, “Oh dear! Feliciano, love… Uh… Something seems to be missing…”

“I-I know…” Feliciano said sadly, too humiliated and in pain to care that Olivia was here.

“D-Do you want me to help you with that?” She asked.

Olivia could help him? She didn’t seem to want to hurt him at the moment either… Maybe trusting her right now wouldn’t be so bad. Feliciano nodded, “Okay.”

“How are you going to do that?” Luciano raised a brow.

“I know there’s a regrowth spell somewhere…” Olivia walked over, picking up her spellbook. She looked at Luciano, noticing him standing beside the dissection table, “Oh, you’re out of your chains.” Promptly, she hit him over the head with the thick book, knocking him unconscious. Olivia re-chained Luciano to the dissection table beside Feliciano. He whimpered softly as he watched, finding it rather mean of her to hit him on the head like that.

“Here, drink this. It will taste bad and be very unpleasant, but it will heal you completely. Okay, poppet?” Olivia handed Feliciano a green coloured potion.

“…Really?” He looked up at her as he sat up on the table. He wanted to trust her, he really did, but he wasn’t quite sure if he could. It was a bit hard to trust a murderous cannibal who slipped drugs and poison into her cupcakes, after all. But catching her gaze, she didn’t seem intent on harming the Italian. Her eyes were a clear blue, not swirled along with pink whenever she was in one of her more deranged moods.

She nodded, “Yes, love, now drink up.”

“Okay…” Feeling that her tone was genuine and serious, Feliciano brought the mouth of the flask up to his own mouth, tilting the bottom upwards. The green substance tasted pungent and sour, sure to leave an unwanted aftertaste behind. He gulped down the potion anyway, and as it travelled down his esophagus, he began to instantly feel as if his insides were searing with pain.

“Now try not to scream.” Olivia said, as she began to chant a spell to heal him. The pain Feliciano felt only intensified as the words left her lips. He tried to do as she said, to not scream in agony, but it was getting harder and harder not to. He writhed, shaking on the dissection table as he underwent the intense pain, only for it to grow even stronger every second.

Slowly, he could feel his bones, muscles, and tissue knitting back together in their proper places. His reproductive organs began to grow back, as well as the wounds with the crude stitches on them beginning to heal.

Once Olivia was finished, she asked him gently, “Feeling better, poppet?”

Feliciano nodded, his breathing slowing down when the pain subsided, “Sì…”

“Okay, good. I’ll go get some new clothes for you, now wait here, love.” And with that, Olivia ascended back up the staircase, fetching some clean clothes for the Italian.

By then, Luciano was beginning to regain consciousness, groaning softly. He looked around, realizing he was confined once again, “Ah… My head… That bitch.”

“Are you okay?” Feliciano asked him. He was still concerned about him.

“Sì…” Luciano’s gaze drifted downwards, “Oh, you have a cock now… Let’s see how well this one works.” He smirked, trying to break free from his shackles.

Feliciano blinked, “W-What…?”

“Feliciano… Can you reach my handcuffs? And… Let me out.” Luciano asked.

“Why?” The 1P asked, tilting his head.

“So I can let you out…”

“…Ok.” Feliciano nodded. He didn’t really believe his counterpart, but he decided to trust him anyway. Reaching over, he managed to get Luciano out of his handcuffs. Luciano rubbed his wrists as he was freed again.

“Grazie. Now…” He smirked and strode over to the dissection table where Feliciano lay, and grabbed Feliciano’s curl, yanking on it, and caused him to shiver out of pleasure. “Let’s find out what this new dick can do.” Without warning, Luciano began stroking Feliciano’s member with his other hand.

This freaked out Feliciano. Why was Luciano acting like this? He never tried to do something like this to him before, and he didn’t really matter to him at all, other than that one time...

Feliciano felt his face heating up from his counterpart’s actions, not used to this kind of behaviour from him, or this whole lewd situation in general. Normally, Luciano would try to kill him, not do… _this_ with him.

“I-I thought you said you would let me out…” Feliciano shivered.

“I didn’t say when…” Luciano said slyly, rubbing his hand faster.

Feliciano whimpered from the odd and unfamiliar sensations, but at the same time, moaned softly, “S-Stop… It feels weird… W-Why do you keep touching me there…?”

“We need to make sure it works.” Luciano grinned perversely, and gave a long lick up Feliciano’s length and sucked on his tip, making Feliciano gasp and shiver.

“B-But can you stop? What you’re doing feels weird…” He moaned softly.

“So? It feels good, sì?” Luciano stroked it with his hand again, and then began taking in the entirety of his meat, the hot walls of his throat constricting around Feliciano’s member, giving him pleasure he’d never known before. It did feel very good. But even still, he wanted Luciano to stop.

He gasped and panted, catching his breath, “S-Sì… B-But it still feels weird, so can you stop?”

Luciano pulled off to speak, fondling the other Italian’s balls with his hand, “Hm… Eventually.”

Not being able to hold back, Feliciano groaned softly in pleasure. He never experienced fellatio when he wasn’t under the opposite potion before, so he didn’t know what to expect from this and didn’t know how pleasurable it was. Something in the back of his mind told him it was wrong, but that voice was soon starting to become clouded by lust as he was fondled and sucked on. He was getting closer and closer to giving up on fighting back until he heard a loud scream and his eyes snapped open. He wasn’t sure at which point he closed them.

Standing in front of the two was Olivia, who was staring at them. Folded clothes were on the bloody floor, the red liquid seeping through the fabric that would have been clean if it weren’t for the British girl dropping them upon seeing the lewd scene before her.

Pulling out a knife, she stabbed Luciano in the back, which caused him to fall over to the side, slumping to the ground. She chained him back up to the dissection table and turned towards Feliciano, asking him, “Are you okay?”

Feliciano was still a bit shaken from the whole experience, feeling conflicted emotions. He nodded slowly at Olivia, feeling a bit numb, “Sì…”

“Okay then, love. It’s time for you to come home.” She said.

He managed a small smile at that. Home. He would be safe at home, right? He could finally go home, and not have to stay here in this creepy, horror-filled basement. The thought of going home sounded like the best thing in the world ever since he woke up here, and it still was. The thought of going home made him forget about most of what happened down here. “Okay~”

Olivia unchained Feliciano from the dissection table. Finally free, he sat up and rubbed his sore wrists. “But first, you need to get dressed…” She looked back at the clothes she dropped on the floor, “These clothes are all bloody now, oh bother! No worries! I’ll go get you some new ones. Stay here while I go get some!”

“Okay.” Feliciano nodded.

“Oh, and here’s a kitty to keep you company!” Olivia smiled and held up a white cat with piercing blue eyes, who was wearing a bright blue bow tie.

“A kitty?” Feliciano’s eyes lit up and sparkled upon seeing the cat. He loved cats. They were adorable. One of his favourite animals in the world were cats. Without another care in the world, or rather just here in this basement, he almost instantly reached out to pet it. The feline jumped into his arms and happily cuddled him.

“Ollie-cat likes you!” Olivia giggled, before waving and running off up the stairs once again.

Feliciano waved back and giggled a bit himself, cooing over the cat and cuddling it back. He pet it more, stroking its soft fur and Ollie-cat licked the Italian’s face, lapping at the blood on his cheek. He tensed a bit, freezing and shivered just a little at the roughness of the cat’s tongue, but managed to stay calm this time rather than panic like the little freak-out he had once when a cat licked him during training with Ludwig.

Ollie-cat jumped out of his arms over to a puddle of blood nearby. Having his eyes closed for now, Feliciano tilted his head and scrambled over to pick the cat back up again. He could feel the soft fur again, but the cat strode away, jumping onto Luciano’s back, licking at the blood on there. Feliciano didn’t see it, and simply went over and picked up the cat again with a small, ‘Gotcha~’ and giggled, nuzzling and petting it softly. He didn’t pay attention to the blood that was getting on him again.

Feliciano made a happy ‘Vee~’ sound. He hugged the cat, but then heard a voice speak to him, “Aww, you’re so nice, poppet!” Whipping his head around, he looked for the source of the sound, but then realized it was coming from what was in his arms. The cat spoke to him.

He opened his eyes to stare down at it, blinking in amazement, “You can talk?”

“Of course I can! I live in a magical house with magical owners and magical companions.” It purred. “Oh, I think the darker version of you is waking up.”

“Huh..?” Feliciano tilted his head. He looked over at Luciano, and saw that he was beginning to stir, indeed waking up.

“I can fix this!” Ollie-cat jumped down from Feliciano’s arms. The Italian only watched as it climbed onto his counterpart’s back, not understanding what the cat meant by fixing it or what he was going to do to ‘fix it’. Using his paw, Ollie-cat pushed the knife into Luciano’s back even deeper, causing the 2P to let out a strangled grunt and slump, motionless again, “I’m sorry, poppet. Italy, dear, you’re going to feel a slight tingling in your chest… But don’t worry; both of you will be fine!”

“What do you mean?” Feliciano whimpered softly. He did, in fact, feel a tingling in his chest, which scared him. He was worried about if Luciano was okay, since the knife in his back looked painful. Even if Luciano had done ‘things’ to him, he was still willing to put that aside and be concerned for him.

“Oh, nothing…” The cat jumped into Feliciano’s arms and purred. Feliciano smiled again, petting the cat. It seemed he forgot all about Luciano, brushing it off when the cat cuddled up against him again.

In almost no time after that, Olivia came back with a new set of clothes for him, although it looked much like the uniform Luciano wore. “I’m sorry; this was all I could find that could fit you.”

“It’s alright. Grazie.” Feliciano smiled and took the clothes. It wasn’t designer, but it would have to do for now. Plus, he really wanted to cover his naked body, which was an oddity in itself for the Italian to _not_ want to be naked. But he had been through a lot today and felt really exposed and vulnerable from what Luciano did. Quickly, he put on the clothes, sighing slightly when the cool fabric made contact with his skin, and hugged himself a little in the clothes that looked like Luciano’s.

Olivia’s voice snapped him back from his peaceful state, “Oh? Why is Luciano dead?”

His eyes widened in shock, “D-Dead? What do you mean he’s dead?” He glanced over at where Luciano’s body lay; the counterpart’s eyes seemed blank and he was lying in a pool of his own blood.

Olivia only giggled, “Right, he can’t die! Silly me!” She smiled creepily at Feliciano, unnerving him even more, “I think you should leave now, poppet.”

Feliciano only stared at her smile, shivering and backing away as he nodded shakily, “O-Okay…”

“You go on ahead!” She sang out, and took out a knife.

His eyes widened at the sight of her plunging the blade into Luciano, tearing into him with it and he immediately fled the basement, running at full speed up the stairs and out of the bakery’s doors. Feliciano crashed into the arms of Luise and Ludwig, breathing heavily in a way close to hyperventilation as he hugged the two Germans tightly.

“Italy!” They exclaimed upon seeing him, and were a bit surprised to see him covered in blood and dash out of the bakery so fast, slamming into both of them.

“Why are you covered in blood?” Luise asked.

Feliciano looked down at himself, smelling the blood on his skin and in his hair. He hadn’t noticed that before and whimpered softly, clinging onto his friends tighter, “B-Blood?” He froze with his eyes wide.

“Don’t worry! We’ll wash it off.” Ludwig quickly said. Hearing that, Feliciano managed to calm down just enough to stop hyperventilating.

“G…Grazie…” He tried to smile at them, “Let’s go home now.”

The Germans nodded and walked back with him to Luise’s house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 11/18/2017: hey everyone I'm back!! I'm gonna be editing all the chapters to make more sense grammatically before I start actually writing the next chapter! after pretty much a year since the last one haha shoot me-


	2. Dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a reminder, this story was created before Hetalia: World Stars where the origins of Germany are explained.

The walk back to Luise’s house was a silent one. Feliciano was still in a state of shock, too disturbed to talk and be the chatterbox he normally would have been. He somberly looked down at the ground, holding onto both Luise’s and Ludwig’s arms as he walked. The quiet left him with only his thoughts, reflecting on what happened back in Olivia’s basement.

Why in the world was Luciano acting that way towards him? It confused and even scared him. He wasn’t used to Luciano saying those kinds of things; that he was important to him. That he was ‘adorable’ and ‘he could never hate him.’ Even the way he kissed him gently and pulled at his curl, even though he should have known what it would do to him. And the weird things he did to him were strangely enjoyable… But still felt wrong. He wasn’t supposed to do those kinds of things yet, right? They were meant for the one he loved…

He looked up at Luise’s house. They were in front of her doorstep. Feliciano sighed in relief at the sight. He was glad to finally be somewhere familiar and around people he was familiar with.

Of course, this wasn’t exactly his house, but it was also home to him. The Italian had a habit of sneaking into Ludwig’s house and into his bed in the middle of the night. Most of the time, he forgot his clothes when he streaked through the night. Recently, he had started doing it to his other friend, Luise, and although she would scold him in the morning, she couldn’t stop him. Since then, he’d been switching around houses, barely staying in his own anymore. He could say he unofficially moved in with Luise.

Once the door was unlocked and Feliciano walked inside, he asked a bit more cheerfully, brightening up from being at home, “Can I take a siesta?” He really needed a nap after this whole ordeal. Maybe if he slept it off, he could forget about it.

“Ja, just take a shower first.” Ludwig nodded, and then left to go back to his own house.

A shower. He really needed one. The scent of blood was still strong, and it was staining his temporary clothes as well. A shower sounded wonderful right now; he couldn’t wait to wash all these terrifying memories away.

He nodded eagerly and skipped off upstairs to start up the shower.

Feliciano closed the door behind him and locked the door. Sighing, he looked up at himself in the mirror. His hair was ruffled messily and matted with blood. Red was splotching and splattered on his clothes and skin. His eyes were wide, staring at his shivering form.

He tore his gaze away from his reflection and began stripping down, removing his clothes as he didn’t want to waste any more time staying in them. His pants and underwear fell to his ankles and he undressed himself, stepping into the tub. He turned on the water and flinched away slightly. Too cold. Groaning softly, he twisted the knob just a little to make it hotter. Just his luck; now it was _too_ hot. He winced softly and fiddled around with the knob before deciding maybe hot water wasn’t that bad, wanting to just be done with the shower already, and he began cleaning himself.

He lathered shampoo in his hair, washing away all the blood, and used soap to scrub at the bloodstains on his soft skin. He traced his finger down the middle of his stomach gently. It was the spot where they cut him open to get the opposite potion out. It was healed now, but he could still vividly remember the pain he felt as he was sliced apart. He grimaced at the memory, and scrubbed a little gentler on that area. Looking down at his private parts, he realized he had that to clean too. Who knows what kind of germs were there now because of the opposite potion? That, and Luciano put his mouth on that, so he should really clean it. Saliva was pretty icky, especially down there and from other people, and he knew Luciano ate blood and was a cannibal… He took it into his hand and began cleaning.

Normally, he would sing to himself in the shower, or simply stand there and let himself daydream, but he was looking forward to the comfort of sleep and finished up rather quickly. He hopped out, grabbing his towel and dried himself off. Feliciano hadn’t bothered to fish out some new clothes for himself and simply walked back to the bedroom stark naked, where Luise was waiting for him.

By now, she was used to seeing him without clothes and rolled her eyes upon his arrival, “It’s a little late for a nap, but we can just go to sleep now.”

Feliciano nodded, “Sì, okay. Can you sleep with me?” He asked, getting into the bed.

“Ja.” Luise nodded, and laid down beside him. Instantly, he wrapped his arms around her. He was always a hugger. Whenever he slept, he hugged whatever or whoever was beside him.

“Buonanotte.” Slowly, he began falling into unconsciousness. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep. Only to wake up a few minutes later, hyperventilating.

He sat straight up in the bed, tears forming in his eyes and Luise looked over at him. “Italy? What is it?”

Nightmares. He knew it. He knew he would get nightmares.

He gasped softly and threw his arms around Luise, clinging onto her tightly as if she were a lifesaver. “I-I had bad dreams…” He mumbled, still shaking.

“Shh… Everything’s alright now.” She tried to soothe him, stroking his hair softly, “What happened?”

He shook his head, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Luise hugged him tightly, “Well, it’s okay. They’re just dreams. Nothing will happen. Now go back to sleep. Everything will be fine in the morning.”

“But what if I get those dreams again?” The Italian asked in a small voice. He didn’t want to keep having nightmares like that.

“Then I’ll be here when you wake up.” She assured him.

“Okay…” Gradually, he began to calm himself down and laid his head back down on his pillow, falling asleep once again.

_Feliciano was in a field. A field ripe with sunlight, and tall strands of wheat and grass blew in the soft breeze. It was a lovely day. Warm and pleasant. The heat of the sun and the cool wind balanced each other out on Feliciano’s skin, and he laughed softly to himself, finding this scene to be absolutely beautiful._

_In the field was a tree. A tall one. Winding branches everywhere, the leaves painted with beautiful shades of green and yellow. A small figure was standing under the foliage, right beside the large trunk. Feliciano took notice only now and tilted his head, creeping closer to get a better picture of who was under the tree._

_Coming closer, he could see that it was a young boy. A boy who wore a black cloak, and blonde hair, and blue eyes…_

_Feliciano gasped, covering his mouth. He stopped in his tracks, staring at the boy. The boy took notice of him, and stared right back. He spoke, “Hello, Italy.”_

_Feliciano blinked, stepping closer, his voice barely above a whisper, “H-Holy Rome?”_

_“Sì.” The child nodded. It was confirmed. The boy was the lost long fallen empire. The one who was Feliciano’s childhood friend. The one who was his first love._

_Trembling from a flood of emotions, he couldn’t decide if he was happy his love came back, or sad he was gone for so long. Was he shocked he finally did come back, or all of these combined and more? “I… I thought France said you died…”_

_The child closed his eyes, “Italy. I did die. I just came to say… I’m sorry I never came back.”_

_A sudden memory appeared to Feliciano, flashing in his mind. His jaw was left ajar in shock as tears formed in his vision. He had to cover his mouth again and step back a little, as his eyes were frozen, fixed onto the memory he was experiencing. A gunshot. A thump. A child in a black cloak hit the ground, blood spilling onto the grass from a bullet wound in his chest that was inadequately being covered by the boy’s small hand. His other hand fell to his side, outstretched as if he was reaching for something, and was barely able to clasp the white and yellow flower he was holding. As his eyes grew dull, he whispered weakly, “I’m sorry, Italy…”_

_As quick as the flashback came, it ended. The child spoke to him again, “Don’t worry, Italy. I found a way.”_

_Feliciano tilted his head, puzzled by his cryptic words, “A way for what?”_

_“To come back to you. I still love you, Italy. Goodbye.” He began to fade, leaving only a trail of shimmering sparkles floating in the place he was standing as a sign of his existence._

_“But—” Feliciano reached out a hand towards him, but it was too late, “I love you too…”_

_He let out a short gasp, his eyes widening. He was seeing another scene in his mind. He could see two familiar people standing beside each other, Holy Rome, and Ludwig._

_“I will come back, Italy.” The boy in the cloak spoke first._

_“I will always be there for you.” Then Ludwig did._

_“I love you, Italy.” They said in unison._

_Feliciano looked back and forth at the two of them. It was only now he’d_ really _taken notice of how similar they looked. Same blonde hair, same blue eyes. Why did they seem so similar? Could it be… That they were really the same person?_

_A whirlwind of questions popped into Feliciano’s mind, questions and emotions flooding his senses. He didn’t even notice the scene around him changed into a quiet clearing._

_An old, small church was in the distance. The sound of the church bell was the one to snap him out of his thoughts._

_He whipped his head left to right, looking around and trying to take in the change of scenery. A plethora of tall, skinny trees were around him, but the church grabbed his attention the most. It looked familiar. He began walking towards it, wondering where he had seen it before._

_As he got closer and walked inside, pushing the doors open, he realized he’d been here before. He came to this place as a child, to pray for the safe return of his love. Even as a child, he was a devout Catholic. Speaking of which, he could see a child in a green dress, kneeling at the altar. It was a younger version of him. He stepped closer, and could now see the faint, translucent glow of a figure that looked like Holy Rome, hovering over the young boy in the dress, as if he was watching over him. His spirit leaned towards the child, whispering, “I’m still here. Always.”_

_“H… Holy Rome…?” Feliciano managed quietly. He blinked for only half a second, and once he opened his eyes, he was no longer in the church. Water surrounded him. He was in Venice, at the canals. His younger self disappeared, but Holy Rome was still there._

_“Always.” He repeated._

_Feliciano stared wide-eyed as he watched him float toward the surface of the water. His reflection, instead of himself as he looked right now, was of Ludwig._

_“Help me to remember. Goodbye, Italy.”_

And with that, he vanished. Feliciano jolted awake.

“Guten morgen, Italy.” Luise’s voice was heard beside him. Feliciano looked up, seeing that she stood beside the bed and brought him a plate of food, wurst and pasta. “You slept well.”

Feliciano smiled at her, the remnants of his dream already beginning to fade from his mind, although he was making a mental effort to try to remember anyway. “Buongiorno~” He yawned, covering his mouth a little, “And sì, I guess I did sleep pretty good…”

“Hm? You seem distracted. Why?” She raised a brow at him, noticing how he seemed a tad absentminded this morning.

Should he tell her? Internally, he debated with himself whether or not he should confess what his dreams were about, before only a few seconds when he made his decision, “I had this dream about Holy Rome…” He began.

“Oh… Okay. Do you want to talk about it?” She asked him.

“Do I have to?”

Luise shook her head at her friend’s question, “Nein, not unless you want to.” Without another beat, she handed him the plate of pasta she held, “Here, have some pasta. You don’t have to tell me anything.”

Truth be told, Feliciano didn’t think it would do much harm to discuss the dream he had this time; they were different than the nightmares he had gotten earlier. He was ready, and actually did want to tell her about the dreams he had of his lost lover. She was a smart lady, so maybe she could help him figure out what they meant.

Accepting the plate of pasta happily, he grinned up at Luise, “Grazie!” His smile curved down into a more questioning expression, tilting his head as his eyebrows furrowed, “But… Is it okay if I _do_ tell you what happened in the dream?”

“Ja.” She nodded, assuring him as she sat beside him on the bed while he sat up, the sheets covering his bare lower half. “You can tell me anything.”

“Okay.” He twirled the noodles onto his fork, bringing it up to his mouth for a bite. He chewed as he spoke of what occurred in the dream, recalling how he was in the field with Holy Rome, the church, the canals… Feliciano ended the retelling of the events of his dream, looking down at his almost empty plate of pasta.

Luise listened tentatively, silently taking in his words. “So that would mean…”

“That Ludwig’s actually Holy Rome?” Feliciano finished for her, sticking the last forkful of pasta into his mouth before setting the empty plate down beside him.

“Ja…” She furrowed her brows a little, “I wonder if Prussia knew about it…”

Feliciano tilted his head. “Do you think he did?” There could have been a chance Gilbert knew all this time about what happened. After all, he took in Ludwig and raised him, he ought to have known something about Ludwig’s past.

“Should we ask him?” Luise asked.

“Maybe we should.” Feliciano nodded.

“I’ll call him.” Luise took out her phone, calling Gilbert while Feliciano pulled the sheets off of himself, getting up from the bed to stand beside her and wait. She put the phone on speaker, “Bruder? Italy would like to ask you something.”

Feliciano took the phone when it was handed to him, “Ciao?”

“Guten morgen, Italy. What can the awesome me do for you?” Gilbert’s voice came from the speaker, just as loud and raspy as usual.

“Do you know if Ludwig is Holy Rome?” Feliciano asked innocently, not intending to be so blunt with his question, but was still clueless as to how straightforward he was being.

Clattering noises came from the phone, and Feliciano tilted his head in confusion. Why wasn’t Gilbert answering?

“I think he dropped the phone…” Luise said.

The noises stopped as Gilbert seemed to scramble to pick it back up again. He chuckled into the phone, sounding sheepish, “Uh… Why do you want to know that?”

“I had a dream that said Luddy was Holy Rome, and I told Luise, then we both wanted to know and wondered if you knew. So now we’re asking you! Do you know if it’s true?” Feliciano asked.

“Uh… Oh, look at the time! I need to go bug Austria! Auf wiedersehen!” Gilbert said before promptly hanging up, the dial tone sounding half a second after.

A silence occurred as Feliciano pouted, staring at the phone in disbelief before handing it back to Luise, “…He hung up.” Now how were they going to get answers?

Luise took her phone back from him. As if she read his mind, she asked him, “I installed a tracking device on him. Do you want to use it?”

Feliciano nodded rather quickly, his eyes widening slightly. A tracking device? Oh well, it was Luise after all. He wasn’t all that surprised by now. “Sì, okay.” He looked around to see if he had any clothes lying around, since he knew he would be heading out to find Gilbert once Luise tracked him down.

“He’s running to… I can’t remember his name.” Luise said as she looked at what her GPS screen was displaying. Feliciano had just finished throwing on a shirt and some pants. “Can… Cana… Canadia. I think that’s it… Canadia’s house.”

Feliciano frowned a little; the name seemed familiar, yet not quite right either… The feeling about the name soon passed and he nodded, smiling, “Okay, let’s go there.”

The two got ready to leave for Matthew’s place. They didn’t have very far to walk as Matthew lived close by, only around a couple minutes’ walk at the very least. They soon approached the front steps of the Canadian’s home, and Feliciano knocked on the door, waiting for it to be opened so they could see what Gilbert was doing in there.

“Coming!” Matthew’s quiet voice, muffled further by the door, rang out to Feliciano and Luise only a second after the Italian had knocked. The door opened and Matthew peeked out from behind it, “Hello Italy, Germany.” He nodded at the respected personifications.

“Ciao~!” Feliciano smiled brightly and waved at him as if he was a long-time friend he hadn’t seen in a while, even though he honestly didn’t know Matthew too well.

“Oh, please, come in.” Matthew quickly said, opening the door wider and stepped inside to allow his guests into his home. Feliciano smiled a bit, walking inside. It was nice how Matthew was always so polite. Of course, it was a stereotype that Canadians were extremely polite, but Matthew did indeed fit that stereotype.

Upon entering the house, Feliciano peered into the kitchen, seeing none other than Gilbert sitting at the table and eating pancakes. The Italian’s face lit up and he smiled, approaching Gilbert with Luise close behind, “Ciao, Prussia!”

Gilbert’s eyes widened as he almost began choking on the pancakes from seeing Feliciano and Luise. He managed a hoarse, “G-Guten tag!” as he swallowed the lump of inhaled food in his throat.

“Why did you say you were going to Austria’s instead of here?” Feliciano tilted his head, “And why did you hang up?”

“I-I…. Uh…” Gilbert’s eyes shifted. He chuckled sheepishly before fibbing, “Hungary was chasing me.”

Feliciano wasn’t as naïve as most people thought. He wasn’t an idiot. In fact, he was actually quite smart. Even if he wasn’t, anyone could still tell that Gilbert was lying, as it was clear what the Prussian was trying to do. Still, Feliciano nodded and smiled, moving on to the next matter, “But now you can tell us, right? You can answer my question?”

After a moment’s hesitation, Gilbert sighed and nodded, “Ja…” He reluctantly took out an old looking piece of paper from his jacket, that seemed to be ripped from a binding on one edge. For what reason Gilbert was carrying it around with him was unknown, if he’d been bringing it with him because he somehow knew he’d be caught and have to confess anyway, or if it was absolutely no reason at all.

Of course, in Feliciano's perspective, he didn’t know the true reason; that Gilbert had been hiding the diary pages at Matthew’s house and came to get them. And grab a stack of pancakes for breakfast too.

“I swore I’d never tell anyone, but…” Gilbert slid the paper over to Feliciano on the table. The Italian picked it up and looked at it, reading the words written on it with wide eyes.

_Dear diary, I’ve come to accept the fact that Holy Rome will never be the same. Though he has recovered from his physical injuries, his mind is broken. Recalling past events seems to cause him pain, so I must now do my best to help him build new memories. I’ve decided to give him a new name to begin his new life with. Germany… Yes. I think Grandpa Germania would approve of this._

“Vee…” Feliciano muttered with a sad tone as he slowly looked up from the page, trying to let this information sink in. The events of his dream and his thoughts were confirmed. “So… He _is_?” He glanced at Gilbert with a confused, slightly betrayed look, “Why couldn’t you tell anyone?”

Gilbert stared back, “I-I…” The corners of his eyes began to water. Feliciano’s expression softened.

“Are you okay?” He asked gently. Without another word, Gilbert’s only response was to hand him another sheet of paper shakily.

_Dear diary, not only did France kill my brother, but he’s also too chicken to tell Italy! Now I have to tell him what happened! How can you tell a child that they’ll never see their love again? I don’t know what to do… Help me, Fritz._

“A-And I kept his diary too…” The sound of Gilbert’s voice snapped Feliciano back from just finishing up reading the page, and he looked back at the Prussian. He was already getting another page out of his jacket for Feliciano to read, and handed it to him.

Feliciano gulped. In his hands, he was holding a page to the diary of his lost love. He knew he wanted answers, and now he had them, but it was hard to take them in without knowing what he would expect. His heart was pounding, and he took a deep breath to try to calm himself down before reading the page.

_Dear diary, I need to make it back… I need to make it back to Italy. I promised, I promised that I’d get back to her… It’s so hard, though, I’m fading, and there won’t be much left of me soon… Please, just let me get back to her, even if I’m broken, even if I’m weak or can’t remember, just let me get back…_

A few tears fell from Feliciano’s cheek onto the paper, wetting and smudging some of the ink in the scrawled, frantic handwriting on the old page. He felt his eyes welling with water, multiple emotions he couldn’t describe were bubbling inside him.

“And this…” Gilbert chucked some more diary pages at Feliciano before unraveling into a sobbing, dishevelled mess. “I couldn’t have told you! Or West! I j-just couldn’t! I needed to give him a new life so he could be stronger! His old empire crumbled. I watched him die…”

Feliciano blinked his own tears away, standing there in silence. He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t even know what to feel, but of course he still wanted to comfort Gilbert in some way. He didn’t know how.

Canals. The water. Holy Rome’s reflection… Feliciano remembered pieces of the dream he had earlier, and without realizing, mumbled half-aware, “…In my dream, he told me that he’s coming back for me, and to help him remember…”

Gilbert looked at him strangely as his bawling slowly came to a stop, “W-What?” He sniffed, wiping the tears away, “Well, the war’s over now… I guess I should have told him earlier. But, his last entry… When he was…” He trailed off, shaking his head sadly as he decided against finishing that sentence, “And the battle was over. He told me to write it…”

Another piece of paper was pushed towards Feliciano. _Dear diary, I don’t think I’m going to be able to make it back to Italy…_

“…But he said something else I couldn’t understand, so I didn’t write it.” Gilbert’s eyes were puffy and red, and he broke down, sobbing.

“Wait… What about the female Holy Roman Empire?” Luise spoke up.

Gilbert took one look at the German woman before dissolving into tears again.

Feliciano felt sad seeing Gilbert like this. He wanted so badly to do something to comfort him, although he didn’t know just what he could do. “…Prussia? Are you alright? I-I can make you some pasta, if you want…”

Gilbert sniffed and shook his head, “N-Nein, it’s fine. I’m alright. I’m too awesome to be sad.”

“Okay then…” Feliciano said quietly. He still didn’t believe he was fine.

“Just… Don’t tell anyone. I’m just sweating through my eyes, okay?” Gilbert said, until the sharp tone of Luise’s voice snapped him back to her question from before.

“Bruder! Female Holy Roman Empire!?”

Feliciano nodded slowly, “Sì… What happened to her?”

The Prussian looked away, wiping his tears on his sleeve, “Ever wonder how Julchen got that scar?”

“How?” Feliciano tilted his head, unsure if he really wanted to hear the answer.

“She was defending her. Took too many hits and couldn’t save her anymore. That cut came from her last attempt before… Before…” Gilbert started sobbing loudly again.

Feliciano looked at him sadly, before pressing on hesitantly, “Before what?”

“The last blow… And she couldn't do anything but watch, then scoop up her dead body and fight like a whirlwind.” Gilbert answered. He gave a laugh and a strangled cry. “Ah… That Holy Roman Empire had long hair. And Julchen thought she was a guy…. Kesesesese… And had short hair. So when Luise was raised, you copied each other when Julchen figured out she was a girl and grew her hair long…” He hiccupped, before passing out.

“Oh…” Luise said.

“Is he going to be okay?” Feliciano worriedly gazed at the unconscious Prussian.

“I think so…” Matthew muttered softly.

“Canada?” Luise turned to Matthew’s direction, “Since when were you here?”

The Canadian must have internally groaned, saying a phrase he’d said so many times before at this point, “I was here the entire time. This _is_ my house, you know.”

“Vee… Do you have any gelato here?” Feliciano turned towards Matthew and asked him. He didn’t know how to react to this right now. He needed to sit down and eat something to calm himself down. Maybe then, things would feel a little more real.

Matthew nodded, “I think I do have a little bit of ice cream left. Is that okay?”

“Okay~” Feliciano smiled at him and nodded. Taking a seat beside the unconscious Gilbert, Feliciano waited for Matthew to return with some ice cream for him. His eyes lit up when Matthew returned with a bowl of white, with a small tint of pink, ice cream, and took the bowl, “Grazie!”

“You’re welcome.” Matthew smiled as he watched the Italian happily scoop up a spoonful and ate it. Although, sensing motion out of the corner of his eye, Matthew looked at Luise, who was now lying on the ground, twitching slightly. “O-Oh… What happened to Luise?”

“Huh?” Feliciano looked over at his friend as well, and instantly was hit with concern and alarm, as he hadn’t known or seen what happened to her, “I-I don’t know…”

“I think she’s remembering her Holy Rome memories.” Matthew said. He lifted her up off of the ground and onto the couch to lay down.

“Is she going to be okay?” Feliciano tilted his head, furrowing his brows as he stared in worry.

“I think she’s just a little shocked… But Prussia looks like he needs some more help.” Matthew walked back towards Gilbert, poking at him gently with a finger, “Gil?”

Feliciano looked down at his bowl, “…Vee…” He took in another spoonful of ice cream, sitting there quietly as he let the frozen treat melt in his mouth.

“You’re taking this pretty well, Italy.” Matthew commented.

Feliciano watched as the blonde opened the fridge, pulling out a bottle of German-Canadian beer. He blinked, “Really? I am?”

“Yes.” Matthew nodded, closing the fridge door, “When Prussia found out that you realized Germany was Holy Rome, he ran in here like a nervous wreck. Not like I’m that different, eh?”

“I guess…” Feliciano shifted in his seat a little, scooping up some more ice cream.

“Wow, Italy. You’re a lot tougher than people give you credit for.” Matthew said, a faint smile showing. He walked in between Feliciano’s and Gilbert’s chairs, facing Gilbert who seemed to show a few signs of movement now.

Looking back, Feliciano noticed he seemed quite different than he normally would be. He was being serious, quiet. Maybe he had matured a bit. “I guess it’s because of the things that happened before…” Yes, all the horror from within Olivia’s basement. That was probably the cause of his more withdrawn behaviour.

“Oh.” Matthew said, pointing the still closed neck to Gilbert’s nose, “If you don’t mind me asking… What happened before?”

“Well… Remember the potion I drank? And also Olivia’s basement…” Feliciano shivered. Matthew should have known about this; wasn’t he down in that basement that one time too?

“Oh…! Are you okay?” Matthew asked softly. A small tapping sound was heard as Gilbert semi-consciously bit on the beer bottle.

Feliciano thought about it for a few seconds, before deciding to say, “I think so.” He smiled and happily ate some more of his ice cream. There was still about half the bowl left that he had to finish.

“Do you like the ice cream?” Matthew asked, opening the bottle for Gilbert, who perked up, sitting up in his chair and grabbed the bottle away so he could chug down the beer.

“Sì!” Feliciano nodded.

“I think Prussia mixed in strawberries with my maple walnut ice cream. Is that okay?” Matthew asked.

Strawberries. Feliciano tensed. Strawberries meant the colour red in chunks, just lumped together in with the ice cream. That explained why there was a pinkish tint. It almost looked like blood, and the strawberries were like chunks of torn, bloody flesh, like down in Olivia’s basement and— Feliciano almost felt like he was going to hurl.

He set the bowl down on the table and pushed it away gently, now finding the ice cream extremely unappetising and nauseating. “I-It’s okay… But I don’t think I’m very hungry anymore…”

“Oh… Okay. Sorry.” Matthew muttered, noticing that Feliciano really didn’t want any more ice cream.

“Bro!” A loud voice shouted. Alfred burst through the front door, startling Feliciano a little as he had been exceptionally jumpy with everything that happened so far. Matthew, however, wasn’t surprised as he knew his brother popped in at unexpected times. “You totally have to watch these horror movies with me! Oh, and you too, Prussia and Italy! It’s going to be totally cool!”

“…Horror?” Feliciano frowned. Normally, he would love horror movies that were gory, but since the recent events in the basement occurred, he now tended to want to shy away from that sort of thing. At least, until he forgot about the incident and blocked it from his mind like he did with war and anything else to do with death.

“Yeah! We’re watching an entire marathon of The Walking Dead, I Am Legend, and The Exorcist!” Alfred chirped, waving around the said CD cases in his hands.

Matthew shook his head and frowned, remembering how Feliciano was currently sensitive right now about horror type of things, “I-I don’t think—”

“And everyone can join in!” The American got out a large tub of popcorn, “Let’s go!”

“B-But I don’t really want to watch anything scary…” Feliciano shrank back. He’d already seen enough scary things for now; the memories in Olivia’s basement were still fresh in his mind.

“Don’t worry, bro! I invited _everybody_ so we won’t get scared!” Alfred grinned.

“What!? You’re filling my house with about four-hundred people!” Matthew’s eyes widened, his soft voice raising just a little more than usual.

“I still don’t want to watch them…” Feliciano mumbled.

A beep sounded once, “I just got a text from West,” Gilbert piped in, “He’s coming too. I get to pick the first movie!” With that, he ran down the stairs to Matthew’s basement, where the Canadian’s movie system was.

“Hey! Wait for me!” Alfred ran after him, trying to beat him so he could pick out the first movie instead.

Feliciano thought to himself, ‘If Luddy’s coming, then maybe I will if he’s there too…’

“Oh… What happened?” Luise groaned a bit, rolling off the couch. It appeared she had woken up, and Feliciano began walking back to her before a large mob of nations could block his way. They came flooding in through the door of Matthew’s house, all flocking downstairs to the huge movie theatre in the basement.

“Well… America came, and now everyone is going to watch movies together! …Are you okay?” Feliciano tilted his head, remembering how she was twitching on the floor not long before.

“Ja…” Luise nodded.

“That’s good! So do you want to come watch movies with us? Gilbert said Ludwig texted him saying that he’s coming too!” Feliciano smiled.

“Ja, I guess.” Luise scooped up Feliciano in her arms carrying him, “Let’s get good seats.”

Feliciano nodded, smiling up at her, “Okay.”


	3. Movie Massacre

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you couldn't already tell by the title of the chapter, there will be death-  
> sorrynotsorry

Luise began walking down to the basement, carrying Feliciano bridal style. Out of the corner of her eyes, she spotted Kiku and Sakura taking pictures of the two of them and smiled softly, “Aren’t _you_ supposed to be carrying _me_?”

“I don’t know, I guess so.” Feliciano giggled slightly and got himself comfortable as he was lowered down onto one of the seats in the second row.

“I wonder why Canada has such a big movie theatre…” Luise looked around as she sat down beside him.

Indeed, the basement was quite large. It was almost as if it was bigger than an actual movie theatre was. In fact, this room looked far too big compared to what the house looked like outside. Here, it was dark and spacious, a giant screen ahead of them while rows upon rows of seats surrounded them on the red carpeted floor, enough for all the nations that were invited. The lights were dim, and there were speakers placed around the room for surround sound. Even the ceiling seemed a long distance from everyone’s heads, making the room seem so much bigger, but Feliciano didn’t think too much into any of this. He didn’t notice the shadows of figures up on the catwalks either.

“It’s kind of weird, I guess.” Feliciano agreed.

“Okay, everyone! Your attention, please!” Alfred’s voice boomed throughout the large room, echoing off the walls, “We’re going to be watching The Exorcist!”

In an instant, the screen came to life as the lights went out. One row behind, Lovino could be heard, cursing when the theatre went pitch black other than the screen. Everyone’s eyes were glued to the screen as the movie progressed. At a particularly scary part, Feliciano clung onto Luise, burying his face into her side and squeaked softly as he was completely frightened.

Various screaming could be heard throughout the theatre as well; one of which was Alfred, who was gripping onto Kiku and screaming about how scary the movie was, and the other Lovino, who held Antonio as unearthly shrieks escaped his lips. Feliciano forced himself to listen to the screams in real life, as well as the ones in the movies, and quivered. He shook in his seat.

He felt a hand softly stroke his hair, Luise saying to him in a comforting voice, “Don’t worry. It’s not real.” Feliciano shut his eyes tightly and tried to focus on his breathing in an attempt to calm himself down. It was just that he couldn’t take any more scary things. He really had seen enough already. Why did he agree to this?

Then a piercing scream filled the room.

It was the loudest scream so far, louder than the people watching or in the movie itself. It sounded panicked. There wasn’t even anything _remotely_ bad that was occurring in the movie right now that could be the cause of the scream anyway. Feliciano’s head instantly whipped up at the sound, nervously looking around for who or what made the noise.

“Something’s got me!” That same voice yelled. It was definitely someone from the audience.

“Oh dear…” Luise muttered, “If this is another one of America’s pranks, I swear…”

Feliciano gulped. Deep down in his gut, he had a feeling this might not be a prank. He cringed as some of the other nations began screaming as well. Did they seem freaked out? They sounded like they didn’t know what was going on. Neither did Feliciano, of course.

Luckily, one of the nations had a flashlight handy on them. They pointed the beam of light at the ceiling, until it caught view of a rope hanging downward, swaying softly. Shakily, the light travelled lower, and lower, until it caught view of a limp body swaying with the rope.

A body with the rope wrapped around its neck.

A body wearing a bomber jacket.

Almost instantly, the flashlight was dropped with a thud and the room was flooded with darkness once again. The forgotten movie was still playing in the background, seeming much less scarier than what was going on in real life. Nations around them gasped, some sobbed, some screamed. Some didn’t know how to react. Feliciano could only whimper, staring in horror where he last saw the body, hugging tightly onto Luise so that his fingernails began digging into her.

“Mein gott…” Luise whispered. It seemed almost everyone else’s eyes were wide too.

 _This can’t be happening… This can’t be happening!_ Feliciano frantically thought. Tears were forming at his eyes as he hugged Luise tighter.

Dead. Alfred was dead. That was the bitter truth, wasn’t it? If Feliciano thought the movie was scary, things were only just about to get worse.

Matthew ran up to the front, worried, “Has anyone seen Prussia!?”

Another scream was heard, along with the sound of a rope whipping followed by a loud crack. Someone scrambled to pick up the flashlight that was still on the floor, and pointed it wildly around the room again. The beam stopped on another corpse.

“Bruder!?” Luise stared. Gilbert was hanging by neck in the same fashion as Alfred.

It couldn’t possibly have been a prank. There was no way Gilbert could have been in on this too.

“Wait…. Where did Romano go?” Antonio asked from the third row, whipping his head around in worried searching for Lovino. No one saw him go missing. They couldn’t find him.

“F-Fratello…?” Feliciano whimpered. He felt useless. This was happening and he could do nothing to stop it, and now his brother could possibly be killed too. He instantly froze, eyes wide when he heard the sound of screaming. Not just any screaming, it was familiar. He could recognise that voice anywhere. Lovino.

Someone had scrambled for the lights, managing to flicker them on just in time for everyone to see Lovino fall from the roof, his hands desperately clawing at the rope around his neck before the rope reached its limit. The force at which he fell caused another sickening crack, and Lovino became limp, dangling from the rope.

“R-R-Roma…?” Feliciano made a noise in between a sob and a gasp. His shoulders shook, and he felt like he wanted to vomit. His older brother had just died in front of him. Antonio wasn’t doing much better either; he was shaking violently, with his eyes wide open and tearing up as well.

Kiku suddenly was looking around the room too, “Oh no… I can’t find China-san…”

The other nations began screaming hysterically as Yao was thrown from the roof and hanged as well. Everyone was scared. Who wouldn’t be? Suddenly the immortal nations were dying in front of their eyes. Their lives were now in danger and anyone could be the next target.

“Who’s doing this!?” Luise demanded, holding Feliciano tight as she tried to protect him.

The Italian man trembled and clung tightly onto her. He wished this was only a nightmare.

“The doors are locked!” One of the nations who were still alive shouted. Banging and pushing on the doors proved fruitless as they still couldn’t be opened.

Arthur ran up to the front, breathless, “All the exits are blocked!”

“S-So we’re trapped here!?” Feliciano wanted to cry. He was panicking. He didn’t want to die here, there had to be a way out!

“Not unless I have anything to say about it.” Luise muttered, taking out a grenade. She always carried weapons with her. She was about to pull the safety pin, until Ludwig walked over and stopped her.

“I already tried it. It’s no use.” Ludwig sighed.

Feliciano whimpered, clinging tighter onto the German lady when he witnessed Mathias suddenly getting shot.

“W-What are we supposed to do if we can’t get out?” Feliciano whimpered, trying to control his breathing.

The sound of an intercom being turned on stopped everyone in their tracks. A creepy sounding voice began to speak; no one could figure out who it was, “Not to worry, you will all go insane and kill each other in about a few hours. Have a good day!”

 _Why would we go insane and…_ kill _each other!?_ Feliciano shivered, finding that idea odd. He then tilted his ears toward a strange sound as the intercom turned off again. A hissing sound. Gas? Was it some kind of gas that was leaking? It was faint, and he heard it for only a second before the sound of everyone else screaming drowned the quiet sound again. He soon forgot about the sound, thinking he only imagined it.

“Nein! I refuse to believe it!” Luise shouted at the disembodied voice. She hugged Feliciano tight, “Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“The same is for me.” Ludwig nodded, wrapping an arm around Feliciano protectively.

Slowly, some of the nations had stopped screaming. Instead, they actually were killing each other, as well as themselves soon after. Feliciano wanted to cry so badly. He wanted to blast a hole into the wall, run home, get into bed, and hide under the covers. He clung onto both Germans, as they were the only comfort he had right now. He was terrified. He didn’t want to go insane and kill his friends either.

“We’ll find a way out…” Luise said, reassuring Feliciano and stroked his hair gently. Ludwig walked a short distance onto the aisle to try to dig a hole into the ground somehow.

“I hope so…” Feliciano mumbled and nuzzled into her hand.

Suddenly, she jerked forward in his arms while a dull thud was heard. Luise gasped in pain and shock, and released Feliciano to pull out the throwing knife lodged in her back. The Italian trembled, wide-eyed when he saw the bloody knife in her hand. She dropped it and fell to the ground, looking up as she could only lie there and bleed.

“I-Italy…”

“L-Luise?” Feliciano instantly rushed to her side, kneeling down as best he could between the theatre seats.

“J-Ja, Italy?” Luise asked, coughing out blood.

Tears misted at the corners of Feliciano’s eyes as he knew with a sick feeling, that Luise was soon going to end up dead as well. He didn’t know what to do, or what he _could_ do for her. Running out to get a first aid kit or get help was out of the question, since they were trapped here. The only thing he knew he could do was hug her, “D-Don’t go…”

Grasping Feliciano’s hand gently, Luise whispered, “I-I… Italy… I don’t think I can stay much longer…”

“B-But… You _can’t_ go! You said you would protect me… And that we would find a way out together. D-Don’t go yet…” Feliciano whimpered softly, the hot tears running down his cheeks.

Luise managed a small smile, gently wiping his tears away with the back of her hand, “D-Don’t worry. I-I’ll find a way back. I promise…” Her eyes began to close and her hand lowered, “I-Ich liebe dich, Italy…” Her eyes closed fully, and she slumped to the floor.

Feliciano sniffled, then flat out started bawling. He realized just how much she meant him now. It wasn’t just a little crush like he’d thought before, and she was more than a friend to him. “T-Ti amo anch’io…” He felt empty. She was already gone before she could hear him say those words to her; his confession of love held no meaning to a corpse.

“Verdammt!” Ludwig cursed. He hadn’t even made a single scratch on the floor. Looking on the ground between the seats, he saw Feliciano crying and hugging Luise, who was limp and laying back in the Italian’s arms. “Oh gott…” He instantly came to Feliciano’s side, hugging the heartbroken man. “Italy… I don’t know what’s happening, but we’ll find a way out.”

“I-I hope so…” Feliciano sniveled, clinging onto Ludwig tightly.

Fast paced footsteps were heard behind the two, until there was a feminine gasp as a gunshot sound followed behind. There were two separate thuds as the woman hit the floor, and Feliciano turned to see it was his female counterpart, Alice. The Italian whimpered softly, having a death grip hug on Ludwig.

“Wait… I think she dropped something…” Ludwig let go of Feliciano to stand up and scan the floor for the item that was dropped. He bent over and picked up a thick, old-looking, bloodstained journal.

Feliciano tilted his head. Why did it look so familiar? “Huh? S-Should we see what’s inside it?”

“Ja.” Ludwig walked back to Feliciano, who picked himself up off the ground, plopping himself onto a seat. The German took a seat beside him, and flipped open the book, reading through it. “It looks like it was originally owned by someone named… Uh oh…”

“Uh oh?” Feliciano repeated, tilting his head more, “It was owned by who?”

“Ryuzuu….”

Feliciano paled. His mouth went dry. “…Oh….”

“This is the same journal… From that mansion…” Ludwig stared down at it.

It was no wonder he thought the journal was familiar. That same journal, along with the name of the one who owned it, brought back bad memories. Memories he blocked long ago. Now he remembered again, and sat up straighter. His whimpering stopped, and his face looked as if he matured even more than he already had.

“Why would it be here…?” Feliciano asked.

Ludwig clicked his tongue, “I don’t know… But maybe… It could help.”

“How?”

“Timeloops… Oh gott. Not again…” Ludwig said.

Feliciano stared at the journal silently.

“Do you want to…?”

Feliciano said without hesitation, “Sì, we should save them.”

Ludwig nodded slightly, “But this time… I’ll be with you. Now, how do you work this thing?” He began inspecting the journal at different angles, as if there was something magical that would happen involving it to turn back time.

Feliciano shook his head, “No, we need the clock, remember?” He frowned a bit. That meant they had to find it again, right? But he didn’t have a clue where to start, and the only place they could search was here in Matthew’s movie theatre…

From the upper level of the theatre, Feliciano could swear he heard someone mumble, “…Oh well, maybe this’ll kill someone. Bombs away!”

He looked up, and his eyes bugged out as he saw a large clock descending on the crowd of nations. He grabbed Ludwig, moving him out of the way before the clock landed almost exactly where the German was standing.

“Where the hell did that come from!?” Ludwig hadn’t seen it fall from the ceiling. “Wait… This is the clock. How did _this_ get here!?”

Feliciano stared at the clock. If it was going to save the time it would have taken to search for it by falling from above, he wasn’t going to question it, “…I don’t know. Anyway, we need to turn back the clock hands to go back in time.”

“I am starting to really hate this clock.” Ludwig grunted and turned the clock upright. “Now let’s go before it’s too late.”

Feliciano nodded. He reached up, turning the hands of the clock back. It didn’t matter how far, since he always ended up at the same point in time every time he did it. As he grabbed onto Ludwig’s arm to make sure he would come back with him, he wondered what time they would end up in now.

With a flash, Feliciano and Ludwig were transported back in time, and outside of Matthew’s house.

Looking around, they could see they were now in the front yard. The door to the house was open, and they could hear Alfred shouting inside. This must have been the point where Alfred came in suggesting they all watch movies together.

“Quick, let’s hide in the bushes. It would be weird for you to see another you.” Ludwig said.

“Sì, okay.” Feliciano nodded, and went with Ludwig, crouching behind a bush near the doorway.

“We have to find out who kills America in the first place…” Ludwig said.

“But how do we find out who kills him?” Feliciano asked.

“Well, we could look in the basement before everyone else comes in.” Ludwig replied.

Feliciano nodded, “Okay, let’s go.”

The duo crept into the house. Everyone else was occupied in the kitchen while Luise was still on the couch.

Luise. Feliciano felt a pang of emotion wash over him. She was alive now, not dead, and he would make sure she would still be after this. He swore he would put a stop to whatever it was that happened back in the future.

Quickly, they snuck down into the basement, looking around at the empty movie theatre. “Do you see anything here?” Feliciano asked in a hushed tone, scanning the area. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

“Nein… But America was hung from the roof… So we need to find a way onto the catwalks.” Ludwig said, looking up at where the catwalks were.

They split to try to discover a way onto the upper part of the theatre. Ludwig called out to Feliciano, “Here’s the ladder.”

Ludwig waited for his friend to walk over to a back hidden area where the ladder was, before setting his foot on the lowest rung, climbing up it. Feliciano looked up at how high it was. It wasn’t too bad, he could do this. And so he gripped the rung tightly before following after Ludwig.

About midway up the ladder, Ludwig stopped. He whispered, “Italy, shhh… I hear someone. Let’s proceed as quietly as we can.”

Feliciano gave a nod and slowly ascended with Ludwig, trying not to make a sound. Now he could hear that there definitely _was_ someone up there. In fact, he could hear about three people.

“And then I'll release the canisters full of neurotoxins that will make them kill each other after being stimulated by fear.” An accented voice said. German, most likely.

Canisters of neurotoxins? …Was that the cause of the strange hissing sound he heard before?

“Why does he sound so familiar?” Ludwig whispered down to Feliciano.

“Vee… I don’t know.” He whispered back.

“And we’d have a show.” Another voice continued on, having an Italian accent. _Wait… That sounded like Luciano!_

“Exactly. So who’s going to hang Alfred?” A Japanese accented voice asked. Kuro.

“I’ll hang Alfred and Lovino. Who’s going to hang Gilbert?” Lutz asked the other two.

“Mein gott…” Ludwig said under his breath, “It’s our 2Ps.”

“I will, since you’re too lazy to hang only three fucking people.” Luciano said, “Wait… Do you hear something?”

Feliciano froze and held his breath, hoping the 2P Axis wouldn’t discover them eavesdropping.

“How about someone go check?” Kuro asked.

“It’s probably the people coming in now.” Luciano said. Feliciano let out a silent breath in relief. “But we need to hurry. Quick, set up the nooses while the Allies fill the place with neurotoxins.”

The 2P Allies were here too? Oh no, that could only mean even more trouble.

“Should we take them out now or do you want to wait?” Ludwig asked Feliciano quietly.

“Maybe we should stop them now.” Feliciano whispered back. It was now or never. They had to stop them as soon as possible, or else it might be too late.

“Okay, ready?”

“Sì…”

“Eins… Zwei… Drei… Now!” Ludwig climbed to the top, jumping onto Lutz and tackled him onto the catwalk.

Feliciano scrambled up after him, jumping onto the closest person. Kuro landed with a thud, and his hands flew up to Feliciano’s neck in an attempt to strangle him. Luciano crept behind him, while Feliciano was fighting to pin down Kuro’s hands.

“Italy, watch out!” Ludwig warned, while punching Lutz.

“Eh?” Feliciano turned around and tried to hit Luciano, but only ended up having his hand grabbed.

Luciano smirked, “Look what we have here…”

Kuro, now free from Feliciano’s grip, seized the opportunity to grab him from behind, holding onto him tightly so he couldn’t get away.

“Italy!” Ludwig shouted, but couldn’t come to his aid as he was still grappling with Lutz.

Feliciano struggled to get free, whimpering slightly and shrank back as Luciano came closer.

“Ciao, Feliciano. Miss me?” The 2P smirked and stroked Feliciano’s curl. He shivered at the touch, not saying anything back.

“Hands off him!” Ludwig yelled, until he was tackled by Lutz. The two continued to fight, evenly matched.

Luciano ignored the Germans, stroking the strand of hair as Feliciano tried not to make so much as a squeak, “What’s wrong? You didn’t enjoy what happened?”

“S-Stop it…” Feliciano whimpered.

“Kuro, go get Alfred ready for his little… Surprise. I’ll handle this one.” Luciano ordered, smirking deviously as Kuro nodded, walking off. Luciano pounced, pinning Feliciano to the ground, “Now… Where were we?”

“S-Stop!” Feliciano thrashed, trying to get away.

Luciano only grinned, softly stroking Feliciano’s erogenous zone, “I don’t think so. I wonder what would happen if I… Cut this off?” With a flick of his wrist, Luciano took out his knife.

Feliciano’s eyes widened. His breathing was laboured and he frantically tried to kick against Luciano, badly wanting to escape. It would mean disaster if his curl were to be cut off. First of all, it would fill him with a weird, overwhelming feeling. He would become excessively horny, so much that he would do anything for release. It wasn’t like it ever happened to him, but he didn’t want to find out what it felt like.

“N-No!” He shouted.

“Why not?” Luciano asked, pinning down both of Feliciano’s hands.

“I-I don’t want you to cut it off! Stop it!”

“You didn’t answer my question. Didn’t you enjoy it?” Luciano asked in a honeyed voice, bringing the blade of the knife up to the curl, “You have until three to tell me or it’s coming off. Uno… Due…”

“O-Okay! I enjoyed it a bit, b-but it’s wrong, and I don’t want to do it again!” Feliciano blurted.

“Hm.… Maybe you might want to after this,” He paused to give a tug on Feliciano’s curl, “Comes off.”

“N-No!” Feliciano gasped softly and pleaded, struggling to escape. He wished Ludwig could save him right now.

“Aww… Why not?” Luciano pulled the curl taut, pressing the blade of the knife into the strand, although not enough to cut into it yet.

“I-I don’t want to! Stop it!” Feliciano shivered, trying not to moan as tears pricked his vision.

“Just because you don't want to isn't a good reason. Give me a good one and I'll think about it.” Luciano purred, tapping his knife softly against Feliciano’s curl.

He shuddered, whimpering, “I-It’s wrong! A-And because I don’t want to _is_ a good reason… W-Why are you doing this to me anyway?” He really wondered why Luciano had this sudden interest in him all of a sudden.

Luciano simply clicked his tongue, “Still not the right answer. And it's because ti amo, Feliciano. Now… Your curl's coming off right now unless you can come up with a good excuse.” He began sawing on the strand of hair slowly.

Feliciano didn’t have enough time to react to being told that Luciano loved him, because now moans and winces were slipping out of his mouth. He squirmed, trying to get away from Luciano when the 2P started cutting into his sensitive curl. He gasped and meekly tried to reason with his counterpart, “B-But if you love me, you’ll stop trying to rape me!”

“I’m not raping you, I’m simply getting you to enjoy yourself.” Luciano only began to saw faster, “I need a better reason, Feliciano.”

The small Italian’s mind whirled. He couldn’t think of anything else that could possibly be considered by Luciano as a good reason, other than what he already mentioned. “B-But it _is_ rape! I don’t want this! S-Stop it, I’m not going to enjoy it. I enjoy things like gelato, and hugging kitties, and football… I don’t want this! Stop!” Feliciano pleaded.

To his relief, Luciano briefly took the knife away, “How is this not enjoyable?” He kissed him softly, stroking his now dented curl.

Feliciano shivered, turning his head away. He felt tingly, sure, but not in a good way when it came to Luciano. He struggled from underneath the stronger man, trying to escape again, “B-Because I don’t want to do it with you! And it’s wrong! And I don’t like doing this anyway!”

“Aww…” Luciano simply grabbed his knife again, “Too bad.”

Feliciano squeaked, tearing up and shaking his head as he tried to flee. “N-No! Please, stop it!”

“Italy!” With a grunt, Ludwig threw Lutz off of the catwalk, and ran towards the Italians, tackling Luciano and pinned him to the ground. He glared at the 2P and hissed, “Never touch him again! Italy, go and find Kuro before he hangs America!”

Feliciano stood back up from the ground, still dazed, and nodded, “O-Okay!” Quickly, he ran off leaving his evil counterpart and Ludwig behind, knowing Ludwig would probably be able to handle Luciano himself. He was very strong and brave, after all.

Now to focus on the task at hand. Feliciano frowned, scanning the area until he found Kuro, dragging Alfred’s unconscious body toward a pre-set noose. Instinct took over as Feliciano rushed towards him to tackle him. Noticing the Italian’s sudden movement, Kuro reached for his katana, taking it out only to have it forcefully grabbed away by Feliciano with a bout of strength the Italian rarely showed.

Taking Kuro’s katana was a smart move, as Feliciano was actually a very skilled swordsman. He didn’t want to end up killing Kuro though, even though he and the other 2Ps tried to kill everyone else. So the blade was tossed aside with a clang as it hit the ground. Swinging his fist, Feliciano tried to throw a punch at Kuro.

However, Kuro was also a personification of Japan. He knew martial arts. Effortlessly, the Asian man blocked the punch, grabbing Feliciano’s fist and leaned in, smirking, “Maybe you want to be hanged first.”

Feliciano stiffened, but tried to conceal how scared he was right now, “N-No I don’t!”

A sharp kick was delivered to the side of Kuro’s stomach with the power of a professional soccer player. As he fell, he held the side where he was hit, grunting in pain as he kneeled. He looked up at Feliciano with an icy glare, “…You’re going to pay for that.” He reached for the rope that was lying only a few centimeters away.

Seeing this, Feliciano had to take action. He kicked him down when he noticed his kicks were a good means of attack. He was thankful he loved playing _calcio_ so often.

Kuro grunted, lying on the ground but quickly tried to get up, only to be pinned down by a boot to his chest. “Hm… You’ve… Ngh, gotten… Stronger…”

Feliciano perked up slightly, a bit surprised and somewhat happy to hear that, “Really?” He asked brightly, as if he wasn’t in the middle of saving everyone he knew from death.

“But… Not… Strong… Enough.” Kuro smirked, trying to escape from under Feliciano’s boot, only to receive a swift kick to the head. With that much force, the Asian was rendered unconscious, becoming limp, and Feliciano grinned a little to himself in triumph. _What was that about not being strong enough again?_

But now what did he have to do? It didn’t seem that Ludwig defeated Luciano yet…

“Time to lock the doors!” A cheery voice with a British sounding accent spoke. Feliciano’s ears perked, whipping his head towards the sound. It came from close by, and he crept closer.

“So, you sure that the neuro… Whatever, won’t affect us?”

Feliciano peeked from behind a corner, seeing Allen and Oliver.

“No worries, I made sure that the potion works!” Oliver said.

Quietly, Feliciano snuck up behind Allen, trying to hit him over the head barehanded in an attempt to knock him out as well. Of course, it had no effect, other than Feliciano ending up hurting his hand.

Allen grunted, his hand flying up to where Feliciano hit him as he spun around to face the Italian, “What the fuck!?” He pulled out his baseball bat, and Feliciano wanted to shrink back and gulp from seeing the blood tinted nails messily hammered onto the wood.

But there was no time for that now. Feliciano rushed forward, grabbing the bat away the first chance he got, just like with the katana. Likewise with the katana, he discarded the weapon, tossing it far away from Allen so he couldn’t reach it, and kicked him hard on the shin.

“Oomph!” Allen grunted, going down in the same fashion as Kuro had. Looking up at the Italian, he only gave a crooked smirk, “Hey doll…”

“Now is not the time to be flirting, poppet!” Oliver said, quickly trying to seal the theatre doors shut with his magic. Feliciano noticed the magical glow, and although he couldn’t guess exactly what the Brit was doing, he knew he had to stop him. He charged, kicking Oliver in the stomach, which caused him to kneel over, gasping in pain as the magic glow flickered from the doors, “Oh! That wasn’t very nice…!”

 _Neither is trying to kill everyone._ Feliciano would have said that, but unfortunately, Allen had recovered and grabbed him from behind.

“Hey… Wanna see me later in bed?” He winked.

Feliciano shivered uncomfortably in response, and blindly tried to kick behind him. “N-No!”

“Aw, don’t be like that, doll.” Allen purred. As Oliver tried to regain his breath from the blow to his stomach, Feliciano managed to dig the heel of his foot hard, right into Allen’s crotch. The 2P squeaked in pain, letting go of Feliciano and kneeled over in agony.

“Uh oh…” Oliver mumbled, taking out a large kitchen knife as Feliciano came closer. The Italian ran up and tackled him, knocking the knife away, “Oh! Please don’t hurt me, poppet!” Oliver whimpered, staring up at Feliciano.

Feliciano really didn’t want to hurt him. But he was part of this plan the 2Ps came up with, and he couldn’t make exceptions for that. He spoke to him gently, “I don’t want to hurt anyone, but… I have to if you’re going to hurt others.” And with that, Feliciano kicked him on the head, knocking him out.

“Oh…” Oliver groaned and fell over, his pink magic seal fading away from the door.

The fight still wasn’t over yet, though.

“Come on, doll…” Allen had recovered, and tried to grab Feliciano again, only to have him spin around and kick him on the head. He fell over with a thud, drifting into unconsciousness.

Feliciano took a few short seconds to catch his breath, before running off to move on to stop the next set of 2Ps. Luckily, he saw Matt and Francois dragging other countries to hang, since Lutz had been thrown off the catwalk and Luciano was still fighting with Ludwig. He still had enough time to stop them from hanging those countries.

He ran over, trying to hit Matt first to knock him out. That would have been a good idea, if only it actually worked.

“What the fuck!?” Matt yelled out, swinging around his hockey stick, having the same reaction as his brother.

Feliciano yelped and ducked to avoid the erratic swinging. Sticking out a leg, he managed to kick upwards at Matt’s stomach, causing him to grunt and let go of his hockey stick as he stepped back, trying to regain his balance. Matt glared back at Francois, who was simply standing and watching as he smoked a cigarette.

“Help me, you lazy fucking bitch!” While Matt yelled at Francois, Feliciano took the opportunity to grab the hockey stick and stand back up, kicking at him some more. Matt responded with punches as he tried to grab his hockey stick back.

Francois, surprisingly, was now somewhat helping, dragging the bodies over to the nooses once again. Feliciano saw this and gasped, knowing he had no time to waste. Matt had a tight grip on his hockey stick again, but that soon changed as Feliciano swung his foot, kicking the Canadian between the legs into his crotch.

Kneeling down in pain, Matt loudly shouted profanities, but quieted down after Feliciano struck him over the head with his own hockey stick, knocking him out. He instantly ran after Francois, swinging the weapon at his head with a loud smack.

“Merde!” Francois gasped, before he fell over, limp, and dropped the leg of a body he was dragging as he was knocked out as well.

Feliciano was breathing heavily. Frankly, he was tired of all of this already, but he knew he couldn’t stop now. But… Was that Lovino’s foot Francois was holding?

Coming closer, Feliciano looked down and realized he was right. “Vee… Fratello…” His brother was unconscious. Thankfully alive, but unconscious. He looked down sadly at him, wanting to hug him and wake him up so badly.

Until he looked up, seeing Viktor and Xiao about to release the neurotoxins.

He stepped over Lovino’s body, gliding towards them confidently. He came this far, he knew he could take them on too. And, he was still wielding Matt’s hockey stick in his hand. He knew it would be much easier if he actually had a weapon with him, even if it had to be stolen. But Matt was unconscious and unaware of this, so Feliciano was sure he was safe from Matt’s wrath.

Running over, he kept moving and ran towards the Russian man first, trying to hit Viktor with the hockey stick, since he seemed to be the toughest and Feliciano wanted to get that out of the way first.

A grunt came in response before Viktor swung his bloody shovel at Feliciano, striking him with it. The Italian squeaked in pain and stepped back a few steps, trying to regain his balance and ignore the pain. He kept his footing stable and charged at Viktor again, swinging the hockey stick and aimed for his opponent’s head, only to have it blocked by the shovel. He grunted softly as he bounced back from the impact, and his eyes widened seeing Xiao rush towards him with his knife in hand.

He turned towards the Chinese man, swinging the hockey stick at him. Fortunately, he managed to knock the knife out of his hands as well. Xiao winced from the pain in his hands, but soon got into a kung-fu stance, ready to attack Feliciano, while Viktor came to bludgeon him with his shovel.

Feliciano whimpered softly as he fought. He tried to ward off both of the 2Ps at the same time, only having the hockey stick for defence. He tightened his grip on the handle, knowing he couldn’t give up. He couldn’t. Not this time. Yelling, Feliciano bolted towards Xiao, swinging the weapon with all his might and gave a short sigh of relief when Xiao fell over. Finally, he had been knocked out.

The victory was short-lived, since Viktor was still standing. He smacked the Italian with his shovel.

Feliciano winced as he fell to the ground, scrambling to get up and narrowly escaped a pound directly above him as he rolled away, grabbing the hockey stick again.

He jumped onto his feet, kicking Viktor in the stomach to try to stun him for a second. The action was only met with a grunt and Viktor tried to hit Feliciano again. Dodging, Feliciano hit him over the head with the weapon, trying to knock him out like the others.

Viktor staggered slightly, but hadn’t fallen over yet. Feliciano frowned and hit him harder. That didn’t seem to work either. The 2P’s head was now bleeding, but he was still standing and dazedly tried to raise his shovel, only for Feliciano to swing the hockey stick at his hands, knocking the shovel away. Another swing to the head and a thump, and Viktor was on the ground, but still conscious.

He was crawling to the gas canisters, and Feliciano panicked. Frantically, he ran up to the Russian, kicking at him and hitting him over the head repeatedly to try to get him to pass out, which eventually worked. Viktor fell limp with one last blow, and lay on the ground like a ragdoll.

Feliciano whimpered softly as he stood in the middle of all the unconscious bodies, wiping the sweat and blood from his forehead. At least it was better than being in the middle of dead bodies.

So tired. He was so tired of all of this, but at least it was over now, right? He stopped their plan to kill all his friends. He defeated all of the 2Ps. All of them, except Luciano.

His eyes widened and he rushed back to where Ludwig was, hopeful to see that maybe he already defeated Luciano, but no. That was not the case. They were still fighting.

“Italy!” Ludwig shouted, seeing Feliciano run up to him and barely dodged a jab from Luciano’s knife.

 “Germany! Do you need any help?” Feliciano called out to him.

“Nein, just— Ah!” Ludwig gasped. He fell over, revealing that he was stabbed in the back by Luciano. Feliciano’s mouth went dry, his heart beating faster as tears started to blur his vision.

It was his fault, wasn’t it? If he hadn’t distracted Ludwig by talking to him while he was still fighting Luciano…

Feliciano was rarely the type to get angry, but absolutely _nobody_ hurt Ludwig. He ran towards his 2P, swinging the hockey stick, that he was still carrying, at him.

Luciano simply dodged it, “Hm… You got feisty.” He came up behind Feliciano, grabbing him and holding a knife to his neck. Feliciano whimpered and tried to get away, but Luciano pressed the blade closer against his neck. Feliciano shivered at the touch of the cool metal, and the threatening edge in his 2P’s voice, “Don’t even think about it.”

Feliciano couldn’t focus on Luciano or much less care about him at the moment, though. Tears glistened in his eyes as he stared down at Ludwig, watching as he was helplessly bleeding out from the knife wound in his back. “G-Germany…” He whispered, wanting so badly to _do something_ and not just stand here, stopped by Luciano.

“What? You prefer him over me?” Luciano asked.

“H-He doesn’t try to rape me… And he’s really nice to me, and he’s my friend, and—” Feliciano slowly began brightening up as he spoke about Ludwig. As if everything was back to normal, he spoke energetically, making a whole speech about why he liked Ludwig.

Unfortunately, doing so irritated Luciano.

“Yeah, well, you raped him, so…” Luciano muttered, alluding to what happened when Feliciano was under the opposite potion. Feliciano didn’t stop talking, only continuing his speech and ignoring Luciano, who growled, becoming more and more aggravated, “Fine. If you like him so much, you can join him!”

With a rough push, Feliciano was forced to stumble towards Ludwig, falling next to him.

“Better say your goodbyes fast!”

Feliciano whimpered as he hit the ground, looking up at Luciano, “…W-Why are you doing this to us anyway?”

“Because I can.” Luciano rolled his eyes.

“Ita… ly…” Ludwig managed to speak, and Feliciano turned towards him sadly.

He hugged his dying friend tightly, whimpering, “G-Germany…”

“I-Ita…” Breathing started to become harder for the German, but he smiled slightly to try and reassure Feliciano, “D-Don’t be… S-Sad… Smile… For me… Please…”

“…O-Okay…” Feliciano managed a small smile and nuzzled him softly, tears still running down his cheeks.

“D-Danke…” Ludwig smiled back and began closing his eyes. Feliciano whimpered at this, his smile fading as he knew Ludwig was going to be gone soon, just like with Luise. The German only whispered, “Bis später.” Then he lay limp in Feliciano’s arms. His breathing stopped.

 _See you later._ Yes, that was right, wasn’t it? Feliciano still had the journal… He could find the clock. He could go back in time, go through yet another timeloop, and save Ludwig. Just like what happened in that mansion. He knew at this point, he should be used to deaths like this, but… Every time he experienced one, it always, _always_ , hurt as much as the first time.

He was shaking, cradling Ludwig’s dead body in his arms as tears streamed down his face. He struggled not to cry as loudly as he wanted to in the company of Luciano.

Speaking of him, the 2P had only been staring down at Feliciano with a bored expression, watching and not caring about how much emotional trauma Feliciano just now endured, “Are you done now?”

“….”

He _really_ had the nerve, didn’t he? Feliciano came so close, but everything was so far now that he had to go back again. All his hard work fighting the 2Ps, for not just his own life, but the life of everyone around him, was gone. Luciano had hurt his friends, hurt his family, _killed them all_. Lovino died, Luise died, and now Ludwig was dead even though all the others had survived. Feliciano usually never got mad. But now he was pissed.

With a blank expression, he slowly rose from the ground, tightening his hand around the hockey stick. Without saying a word, he spun around, firmly slapping Luciano across the face with the hockey stick. He then kicked the 2P as hard as he could in the stomach.

Blood flew as Luciano fell backwards. He groaned slightly and his eyes widened as he tried to escape when Feliciano raised the hockey stick over his head, “What the fuck are you doing!?”

Feliciano only wordlessly tried to hit him again, but Luciano managed to evade the hit.

“Wow, what happened?” He grinned a bit as he got back on his feet, staring at Feliciano while holding a bloody knife. He tried to stab his counterpart back as Feliciano tried to swing at him, the two circling around in battle, “You know… This is the same knife that killed Ludwig.” Luciano smirked.

Feliciano whimpered slightly for a second, the first sound he made since he’d been provoked, then his eyes narrowed. He blocked the knife and swiftly kicked Luciano in the balls.

Luciano fell over, dropping the knife as he hands flew to his crotch as he hissed in pain. Feliciano took his chance to hit Luciano over the head with his hockey stick, but since he’d been so angry, he put in much more power than he expected. As the stick made contact with Luciano’s head, his skull could be heard breaking with a sickening crack as the hockey stick broke in two from the sheer force.

As soon as he heard the sound, his eyes widened and he jumped back, dropping the broken hockey stick as he covered his mouth. Tears formed in his eyes once again. _No no no, this can’t be happening… I-I’m not a murderer! I’m not! I didn’t mean to! I can fix this! I can fix this! If I go back, it will be like it never happened! I didn’t mean to…_

He whimpered as he stared down at his 2P’s body. He didn’t mean to hit him hard enough to kill him. But now there was no time to stand here; Feliciano now had to save two people from death, not just Ludwig, but Luciano as well. Even though he extremely disliked Luciano for doing all of this to him, Feliciano just couldn’t wish death upon anyone. No one deserved that. Not even Luciano.

He turned and fled, not bothering to look behind him. His heart was pounding, and he was completely and utterly scared. Blood was on his hands both figuratively and literally. The thought of what happened back with Luciano made his stomach churn. He really didn’t want that to happen. He had to fix it as soon as possible.

Feliciano walked by a closed door, the label on it saying ‘Crack’. The Italian stared at it curiously, and opened the door, trying to see if the clock could be in there. To his surprise, the tall clock was standing there, in all its polished, wooden glory.

Wasting no time, Feliciano reached up, turning back the hands of the clock. He hugged himself, and closed his eyes tight before a flash of light transported him back.

“Quick, let's hide in the bushes. It would be weird for you to see another you.” Ludwig’s voice said.

A calm breeze flowed through his hair. He couldn’t smell blood anymore, only grass and a faint scent of maple. Feliciano opened his eyes to see Ludwig, alive, and standing beside him. He glanced down to see all the blood on his clothes were gone once again. He knew where he was.

He nodded, smiling as naturally as he could, “Sì, okay.”

The second timeloop. This time, he was going to do things right.


	4. Getting It Right

“Are you okay, Italy?” Feliciano could hear Ludwig’s voice ask him.

Feliciano blinked in surprise and simply nodded as the two of them went off to hide in the bushes, “Sì… I’m alright.”

Natural. He had to act natural. He had lot of practice pretending like he was experiencing something for the first time, so this wasn’t too much of a hard feat for him. He didn’t want Ludwig to know just yet that this wasn’t the first time he’d gone back in time. For all Ludwig knew, they’d gone back together and were working to solve the mystery of who killed everyone in the first place.

“Well, you just saw Luise die… Don't worry, we can prevent it. But we have to find out who kills America in the first place…” Ludwig said.

Feliciano gave a slightly sadder smile, but made sure it wasn’t too noticeable, “Right. We should.” Luise’s death seemed like a long time ago now. It was Ludwig’s death that he was shaken up about. And… Luciano.

Internally, he was becoming conflicted. Should he tell Ludwig? Or pretend this was only the first time? He wanted to tell him, but he felt as if something was holding him back. Evidently, he decided against telling him for now. If something went wrong, he still had other timeloops to fall back on, right?

“But how do we find out who killed him?” Feliciano asked.

“Well, we could look in the basement before everyone else comes in.” Ludwig replied.

“Okay, let's go then.” Feliciano nodded, and the two of them snuck into the house. This time, he didn’t do so much as flinch upon seeing Luise lying on the couch, simply heading for the movie theatre.

Although Ludwig didn’t know, he could sense there was a stranger air about the Italian that wasn’t there only moments ago when they were back at that grandfather clock in the theatre, before they went back in time. “Italy… Is there something you’re not telling me?”

Feliciano stiffened slightly, inhaling before continuing on down the stairs, “No, it’s nothing. Now let’s go.” He assured.

“Ja… Okay…” Ludwig followed after him. Feliciano started to become a little nervous. It sounded like Ludwig didn’t believe him.

When they got to the basement, Feliciano looked around just as he did before, “Do you see anything here?”

“Nein… But America was hung from the roof… We need to find a way onto the catwalks.” Ludwig said.

Not wanting to waste time, Feliciano began walking toward the general direction of the ladder, acting as if he discovered it by chance when he got to it. “Oh, look, a ladder! Should we go and see what’s up here?”

His mistake was he found it a little too quickly.

Ludwig blinked a bit in surprise. It was almost as if Feliciano knew exactly where it was located. “…J-Ja… Okay…” He walked towards the ladder, climbing up it and Feliciano followed. “Who do you think would do such a thing? Killing everyone?” The German asked.

“I think I have a good idea…” Feliciano mumbled so that Ludwig couldn’t hear. “I don’t know. I hear something. Let’s go up quieter.” He said softly, climbing up the ladder slower, as Ludwig did the same.

Soon enough, Feliciano could hear the sound of the 2Ps conversing, just like they did before.

“And then I'll release the canisters full of neurotoxins that will make them kill each other after being stimulated by fear.” Lutz said.

“Why does he sound familiar?” Ludwig whispered down to Feliciano.

Feliciano whispered back, hesitating for a millisecond since he was still internally debating on whether or not he should tell Ludwig, “Vee… I don’t know…”

Unfortunately for him, Ludwig was observant and caught on to his hesitation, “Italy… Why did you hesitate?”

“And we'd have a show.” Luciano spoke.

“Exactly. So, who's going to hang Alfred?” Kuro asked.

Feliciano’s eyes widened, noticing he made a mistake and quickly tried to cover it up, “No reason…” He whispered up to his German friend.

“I’ll hang Alfred and Lovino, who’s going to hang Gilbert?” Lutz asked.

“Italy…” Ludwig stared down at Feliciano, trying to examine his face and figure out just what was wrong with him before sighing in exasperation, “Fine.”

Feliciano looked away, guilty. His normally gentle hands were gripping tighter onto the rung and had begun to sweat a little. He wiped one off on his pants before ascending another rung, then wiped the other hand as well as the two listened to the three above them talking.

“Mein gott… It’s our 2Ps.” Ludwig whispered.

Feliciano didn’t say anything. He knew that it was the 2Ps already; he’d dealt with all of them personally. He didn’t know what he could say to reply to Ludwig.

“I will, since you're too lazy to hang only three fucking people. Wait… Do you hear something?” Luciano asked.

Feliciano was calm. He knew to stay silent right now, not daring to even breathe as he clung onto the ladder, having ceased climbing by now. Patiently, he waited until the 2Ps decided it was only the people who were coming into the theatre, and looked up as Ludwig whispered down to him.

“Should we take them now or do you want to wait?”

“Sì, let’s try to stop them now.” Feliciano said with finality.

“Okay, ready?”

“Sì.”

“Eins… Zwei… Drei… Now!” Ludwig jumped up onto Lutz and tackled the 2P German on the catwalk.

Feliciano climbed up, tackling Kuro down just as he’d done before. He pinned down Kuro’s hands and now that he knew what would happen, he sensed Luciano coming up behind him.

“Italy, watch out!” Ludwig warned, while punching Lutz.

He was prepared now. Remembering how Luciano grabbed his hand before, Feliciano opted for spinning around and kicking him on the side of his legs, causing the 2P to fall back.

Luciano grunted as he hit the ground and stared up at his ‘wimpier’ counterpart, “Woah, how the fuck?”

“Vee?” Feliciano tilted his head curiously, before getting up and kicking the side of Kuro’s head, knocking him out straight away. He felt a small sense of pride rush through him as he strode toward Luciano, pinning down his chest with the bottom of his boot. But then he frowned. That wasn’t something he would normally be proud of himself for doing.

“Italy?” Ludwig asked, slightly shocked seeing Feliciano fight so well, as if he’d already fought like this before. He would have stared, but he still had to keep fighting his own counterpart.

“The potato bastard’s right. How the fuck!?” Luciano demanded, struggling to get Feliciano’s foot off his chest so he could get up.

Feliciano only put more force into his foot, kicking Luciano down against when he was close to getting up. He tilted his head innocently, half pretending to not know what Luciano was talking about. “What do you mean?”

“How the fuck are you like… _This_?” Luciano grunted, taking out his knife and tried to stab Feliciano in the leg, only for Feliciano to kick the knife away and pin him down again.

“How am I like what?” Feliciano asked.

Of course, he already knew what. He was more willing to fight, and he was fighting well. He knew how to handle these 2Ps. He’d already done this with all the other 2Ps, and although it was hard, he still managed to defeat them. Doing it a second time was no problem for him.

Luciano fell over again, simply taking out another of his knives, “Strong,” He smirked. “But not strong enough.”

Feliciano almost rolled his eyes at that. He’d already heard the ‘strong but not strong enough’ spiel from Kuro in the first timeloop, and proved him wrong. He frowned and knocked the knife out of Luciano’s hands, stomping on his stomach afterwards, making him gasp and stay winded as he lay on the ground.

He tried to kick him on the head to knock him out too, but Luciano was still left conscious, groaning and tried to inch away from Feliciano.

“I-Italy?” Ludwig asked, stunned as he tried to comprehend what just happened. Feliciano had managed to render one 2P unconscious and overtook another one almost effortlessly. It really was unlike him.

“Vee? What?” Feliciano asked.

“I-Is this the first time?” Sometimes Ludwig was too smart for his own good.

Feliciano frowned slightly. Seeing that since Ludwig already figured it out, he might as well confess. “…For _you_ , it is. But for _me_ …”

Ludwig stopped and stared at Feliciano, “Mein gott! Why didn’t you tell me!? Why did we need to— Ah…” His eyes widened and he gasped as Lutz pulled his dagger out of Ludwig’s stomach.

Shocked, Feliciano stood and stared for a second before the forcing his way through the feeling of his body turning to lead and kicked Lutz as hard as he could, pushing the 2P over the ledge of the catwalk. He quickly ran up to Ludwig’s side, tears forming in his eyes again. He held the larger hand, that was growing colder with every second in his own. Feelings of guilt and grief were coursing through him, and he couldn’t think of anything else other than _‘No…’_ and _‘It’s all my fault…’_

Ludwig gasped softly, his other hand gripping where the bleeding wound was as he was helpless to stop it. He fell to his knees, bringing Feliciano down with him.

Luciano chuckled mockingly from beside the two as he lay on the ground as well, still recovering from the pain on his own stomach. “Heh… Too late…”

“G-Germany…” Feliciano’s tears caused his vision to blur again.

It was his fault. He made another mistake, just like back at that mansion. It was his fault he didn’t tell Ludwig. Why didn’t he tell him sooner? The reason why they all could escape before was _because he told all of them_. He didn’t keep his secrets from them, and they could help him. He wouldn’t have been _alone_ if he’d said something…

Still, he was alone when he fought all the 2Ps except Luciano. Until the moments after Ludwig’s death, he was alone again. Back then, he didn’t know what to do, and reacted accordingly. Now that he knew, why didn’t he tell Ludwig so they could be ready? Why didn’t he learn from that time they were trapped in that mansion!? Maybe the feeling of loneliness overwhelmed him, and his mindset was stuck on thinking he was alone, even if he wasn’t.

He should have told Ludwig sooner. He would, once he came back. That would be the first thing he did.

“I-Italy…” Ludwig coughed out blood, and Feliciano tried his hardest not to scream and cry out of misery and frustration.

“I-I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner…” Feliciano hugged Ludwig tightly, wanting to have his warmth close to him.

“I-It’s okay… Italy…” Ludwig gasped a bit for breath, “I-I’m proud of you. You d-did well…”

Feliciano tried to fight back bitter tears, but they spilled out his eyes anyway, streaming down to his chin. If only Ludwig knew one other thing, he probably wouldn’t have been proud of Feliciano anymore. “…G-Grazie. D-Don’t leave me again…”

“I-I won’t. I’ll never… Leave you… Never…” Ludwig’s eyes fluttered, beginning to close as he whispered, “I-I’ll see you again… Italy…”

Feliciano’s heart shattered once again as he felt Ludwig fall limp in his arms. Droplets of his tears fell onto the German’s bloodstained clothes, and Feliciano slowly began to set the body down on the ground. He rose, calmly walking back over to Luciano. He delivered a sharp kick to the 2P’s side as angry tears spilled from his eyes.

Luciano groaned in pain, not bothering to get up from the ground. His plan was working, after all, since Feliciano couldn’t stop the other 2Ps and Ludwig was now dead. The darker counterpart smirked up at Feliciano, “H-Hey… Did I get to kill him last time? That… Ah… Would have been fun.”

Feliciano’s eye twitched and he grit his teeth, kicking him harder, “Sì… You did.”

Luciano flinched, but kept smirking at Feliciano’s expense, “I’m… Glad I did.” He coughed out a bit of blood, “I wish I could have… Done it again…”

“…You also tried to rape me back then. And when I asked why, you told me you loved me. But I don’t love you, Luciano, and I never will!” Feliciano vowed, kicking him hard enough to crack his ribs.

Luciano winced, gasping in pain a little. “Ah… How unfortunate… That you’ve become _just like me_.” He gave a haunting smirk up at Feliciano before his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell limp, looking like he was unconscious.

“W-What…?” Feliciano’s eyes widened and he stared down at Luciano’s body.

He wasn’t like him, right? He couldn’t _possibly_ be like Luciano! He didn’t mean to kill or hurt anyone; he was doing this for good. He was trying to save everyone! He couldn’t be like his 2P! Luciano was just a psychopath who _enjoyed_ killing everyone. Feliciano was not, and would never be like that. He never wanted to hurt anyone.

 _But he_ did _, didn’t he?_ He didn’t _have_ to keep kicking Luciano while he was down on the ground just now, but he did anyway. And he did it because he was angry. Because he wanted to hurt Luciano for hurting him. Thinking about how he actually chose to do that made him feel sick. He wished things could go back to the way they were before, before all of _this_ happened to him.

Unsettled, it took Feliciano a couple more moments until he could move his feet again, tearing away his gaze from Luciano. He shook his head softly and began running across the catwalk, looking for the clock.

He peered behind corners and opened closets, eventually finding the tall clock in the same spot as before, surprisingly. As he opened the door to the ‘Crack’ room, he wondered why Matthew had the clock in this room. …And what those barrels with white-yellowish looking powder were for.

Shaking the thought off, Feliciano reached up to the clock hands, rewinding the arms of the clock once again. He braced himself for the flash of light, and tried to get rid of his melancholy, self-doubtful feeling before he met up with Ludwig again.

***

In an instant, he felt a warm breeze and the smell of outdoors, opening his eyes to meet with Ludwig’s as the German spoke. “Quick, let's hide in the bushes. It would be weird for you to see another you.”

He told himself the first thing he would do was tell Ludwig. It was now or never, and frankly, he wanted to fix things now.

“Oh, but I… I need to tell you something, Germany.” Feliciano began. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves.

Visibly confused, Ludwig asked, “What is it?”

Feliciano looked down at his feet, before staring back up at his friend, confessing, “This isn’t the first time I came back.”

“What!?” Ludwig stared back in disbelief.

Guilt and shame from not telling Ludwig before were beginning to eat at Feliciano alive. At least now he could fix that, though. He could only sigh and nod his head slowly, “Sì… I-I didn’t tell you that the last time, so I thought maybe I should tell you this time…”

“Wait… What happened last time?” Ludwig asked.

“Last time, it was the second time, so things went a bit differently than the first… You died both times.” Feliciano said quietly. He looked down, trying not to cry again from just remembering it.

“I-I died? Italy… I’m sorry…” Ludwig looked down sadly at the poor man.

Feliciano shook his head, “It’s not your fault… Besides, it’s okay. We can change that now. Let’s go.” He forced a small smile and hugged Ludwig.

“Ja… Okay.” Ludwig nodded slowly, “But… How did I die?”

Feliciano’s mouth went dry. He frowned a bit, finding it hard to face the memories again, but made himself tell Ludwig anyway, “W-Well… The first time, Luciano stabbed you in the back. The second time, Lutz stabbed you in the stomach.”

“Oh…” Ludwig snuck into the house alongside Feliciano, “Wait, our 2Ps were there?”

Feliciano nodded, “Sì, they and the 2P Allies were the ones who killed everyone.”

“Oh, so what’s the plan?” Ludwig asked.

The plan? Feliciano honestly didn’t know, so he began to use that brain of his, wracking his mind to come up with a plan. Since the first timeloop went much better than the second, obviously he should base what they do now off of the first timeloop.

He led Ludwig towards the ladder as he spoke. He looked towards the upper left as he recalled what happened the first time. “If we want to make it like the first timeloop so we can… Avoid you d-dying again… We should go up this ladder, and fight Lutz, Luciano, and Kuro. Luciano might try to rape me by using my curl, though, but then after Kuro leaves… You can throw Lutz off the catwalk like before, and stop Luciano. Then I’ll go and stop Kuro and the other 2Ps.” Feliciano quietly whimpered to himself at the thought.

He most certainly didn’t want to be violated again, and he really didn’t want to fight all the 2Ps on his own again either.

“Got it.” Ludwig nodded, Wait… Luciano will try to rape you!? He’s going to die…”

The growling tone in Ludwig’s voice unnerved Feliciano. Ludwig was scary when he was angry. So scary, it almost rivaled everything that happened to him so far.

“Well… Here’s the ladder. Do you want to go first?” Feliciano asked, approaching the ladder leading up to the catwalks.

“Ja. Must. Kill.” Ludwig quickly began to climb up with a fury.

Feliciano gulped a little, and followed after him, putting one foot above the other, “Be careful…” He meekly tried to say to Ludwig.

He knew Ludwig was angry at Luciano, but he really didn’t need to kill him… Feliciano couldn’t say anything, though, since he had ended up killing Luciano out of anger himself.

Without bothering to stay quiet and listen to their conversation, Ludwig climbed up to the top of the ladder and grabbed Lutz, throwing him off the catwalk where he fell out of view from the nations sitting in the theatre seats; the German instantly pounced on Luciano soon after, beating up the Italian with all his strength as he ripped out Luciano’s knife holsters so he couldn’t fight back with his weapon of choice.

Feliciano blinked and stared when he reached the top of the ladder. How did Ludwig climb up so fast? Ludwig had already gotten rid of Lutz and was now dealing with Luciano aggressively. “T-That… Works too, I guess… But don’t get too carried away, Luddy…” He mumbled and turned toward Kuro to tackle him once again.

“Not. My. Italy.” Ludwig growled as he punched Luciano in the face repeatedly.

“C-Che cazzo!?” Luciano winced and stared at him in shock, surprise, and anger, not knowing what Ludwig was talking about and was still stunned at the sudden attack as he tried to fight back to no avail.

Meanwhile, just as before, Kuro began to draw his katana only to have it grabbed away by Feliciano. He tried to kick his opponent in the stomach, but Kuro performed a backflip to evade the hit, taking a fighting stance as he landed on his feet. Feliciano frowned and charged at Kuro. He wasn’t as skilled as Kuro with hand to hand combat, and wished he at least had some sort of blunt object to attack Kuro with.

Punches and kicks flew. The two were both hit, but eventually after much persistence, Feliciano won out after managing to kick Kuro in the balls, weakening him enough to pin his chest down on the ground with his boot.

“Italia-kun, you’ve gotten better.” Kuro grunted, trying to raise a hand to pressure point Feliciano’s foot.

“Grazie, I guess.” Feliciano said, already hearing this before. He moved his foot away from Kuro’s hand, stomping on his stomach to stop him again before kicking him on the head, knocking him out.

Panting, he stood over Kuro’s unconscious body after hitting him on the head. He turned back to see Luciano beaten to a bloody pulp by Ludwig, and cringed softly. It wasn’t a pretty sight to see, his counterpart all contorted like that. Thankfully, Luciano’s chest was heaving raggedly when Ludwig dropped him onto the floor, so that meant Luciano was at least still alive. Cautiously, he asked Ludwig, “Should we go find the other 2Ps now?”

As Ludwig wiped the blood off his hands, he nodded, “Ja, okay.”

Feliciano began to lead the way to where he remembered Allen and Oliver were. Sure enough, the two were right there, talking.

“Okay, I'm going to seal this room with magic, can you please stop flirting?” Oliver asked.

“No promises.” Allen replied.

Not wasting time, Feliciano quickly snuck over, stealthily stealing Allen’s bat and swung it over the American’s head.

“Fuck!” Allen shouted as the bloody nails embedded into his bat came into contact with his head. Feliciano shut his eyes and kept swinging over and over again, the dull and painful sounding thumps making a rhythm he could do nothing about but listen until a final thump sounded. Allen slumped to the floor, unconscious and beaten with his own weapon.

Only then, Feliciano dared to open his eyes. He was still gripping the bat as he looked down at Allen; his head was bleeding and the nails in the bat were dripping with fresh blood. Disturbingly, the blood didn’t bother him all that much anymore.

He turned to see how Ludwig was doing, catching him on top of Oliver and in the middle of wringing the man’s neck until he passed out from lack of oxygen. Ludwig let go of the Brit’s neck, standing back up.

Feliciano walked over to him, “Let’s go find the others…”

Ludwig nodded. Feliciano began walking with him, looking for the next set of 2Ps he’d encountered the first time.

Spotting Matt and Francois, Feliciano clutched the baseball bat tight in his hand before dashing over, slamming the nailed-into wood at Matt’s head, earning a loud response of, “Fuck! Holy fucking maple bull moose, you’re going to fucking die!”

Feliciano didn’t flinch at Matt’s threat, and he hadn’t bothered to grab the 2P’s hockey stick away either since he had Allen’s bat. Although in hindsight, he should have at least taken the weapon away, as Matt was now taking it out and swinging it at the Italian. However, Feliciano was ready with the most effective attack move he had.

Aiming the toe of his foot between Matt’s legs, he swiftly kicked him hard in the crotch.

Not even 2Ps were immune to getting hit where it hurt, so Matt’s eyes watered as he sunk to the ground, “Shit.” He hissed, trying to raise up his hockey stick in defence.

Feliciano only took that as an opportunity to disarm him, tossing aside the hockey stick as he hit Matt over the head with the baseball bat, knocking him unconscious as well.

“I’m done with Francois, now what?” Ludwig asked, already finished with beating the Frenchman unconscious, standing over him with his clothes stained with some blood. It wasn’t fair to speculate that the blood came from Francois necessarily, though. And even Feliciano was covered with blood that was both from other people, and his own, staining his once clean and crisp clothes.

“We have to stop Viktor and Xiao from releasing the neurotoxins. Let’s go.” Feliciano began running back to where the canisters of neurotoxins were, and sure enough, the last two 2Ps were there. Ludwig charged and tackled Viktor, to which Feliciano gave a sigh of relief that he wouldn’t have to fight the large, scary, Russian this time.

Xiao was the one Feliciano had to take care of for now, and he ran at full speed towards the Asian, aiming to hit his side with the bloody bat. Xiao simply blocked it with his arm, taking out his knife. As soon as Feliciano saw the glint of metal, he swung at Xiao’s hand to knock away the weapon. Successful, the 2P was left empty handed, but Xiao still came at Feliciano strong, backflipping to avoid another swing and aiming a flying side kick his way.

Narrowly dodging the attack, Feliciano continued trying to hit him with the bat again, only to be kicked in the stomach. He gasped and winced in pain, having to take a few steps back and his own leg shot out to kick in between Xiao’s legs.

Xiao’s eyes widened and he winced, falling to the ground. He tried to get up, but Feliciano recovered from the blow to his stomach by then. The Italian darted forward, smacking the top of Xiao’s head with the bat, rendering him unconscious.

“Vee… Germany, are you done?” Feliciano looked over to Ludwig. In a normal situation, it would have given him chills to hear himself speak of beating people up until they were unconscious and then asking so calmly if his partner was done as well. However, this certainly was not a normal situation.

In the process of hitting the Russian man over the head several times with his own shovel, Ludwig watched as Viktor finally fell. He then nodded, wiping the sweat off his brow, “Ja. I’m done.”

Feliciano looked around the catwalk, seeing all the unconscious bodies that lay around him and Ludwig. This time, it certainly went faster than in the first timeloop. For that, he was grateful. It felt much better having his friend with him to help him, instead of him having to deal with everyone all by his lonesome. He looked back up towards Ludwig, “Thanks for helping me. It was really hard the first time, when I had to do it by myself…”

“You must have been good. I’m proud of you, Italy.” Ludwig gave a nod, as well as a small hint of a proud smile, knowing his Italian friend actually defeated all these 2Ps without his help once before. “Now… How are we going to get them out of here?” He motioned towards all the bodies.

Feliciano frowned. He honestly had no clue. “I don’t know… I haven’t gotten this far before.”

“Wait… What about our female 2Ps?” Ludwig mumbled. He began walking towards Oliver, Feliciano following behind curiously.

“What are you doing?” Feliciano asked, with a tilt of his head.

“I’m going to check something…” Ludwig searched through Oliver’s pockets, pulling out his brightly coloured phone. Turning it on, he began reading through the Brit’s texts to Olivia.

Feliciano tried to peek over Ludwig’s shoulder, which wasn’t working out too well since Ludwig was much taller, so he couldn’t get a clear view of the phone. “What does it say?”

“Hm… The girls would rather not kill their 1Ps in case it affects them and rather go on a killing spree elsewhere.” Ludwig looked up from the phone, “They’re much smarter.”

“So what do we do now?” Feliciano cocked his head to the side. That question still had the matter of being answered, and he really didn’t know what they were supposed to do now since they stopped the 2Ps.

“We should get all the unconscious nations together in a pile so we can make sure they stay knocked out.” Ludwig said.

Feliciano nodded. That seemed like a good idea, “Okay, where should we make the pile?”

“Hm…” Ludwig thought, “Up here in the catwalks so the other nations won't know. Maybe in that open space out of view from everyone else. And we should get rid of the canisters of neurotoxins.”

“Okay, Luddy.” Feliciano nodded again. The two dragged the limp bodies of their enemies over to the designated area. Feliciano found it was only slightly difficult to do so, in contrast to how impossibly hard it might have been for him before. Of course, it was effortless for Ludwig with how strong and muscular he was, but it seemed Feliciano had gained a bit of muscle mass himself. Likely from putting his training to use and having to fight all the 2Ps so much.

Once they were done and the last body was thrown on top of the body of another, Feliciano looked up at Ludwig and asked, “So what are we supposed to do with the neurotoxins? How do we get rid of it?”

“I’ll handle it.” Ludwig pat Feliciano on the head, and began walking to one of the canisters where Viktor and Xiao used to be stationed at. He grunted, trying to pull one can out of the wall, and called over his shoulder to Feliciano, “Can you go text Olivia? This will take a minute…”

Feliciano frowned and shivered a little at the mention of Olivia, but compliantly nodded, “What do I say?”

“Tell her that she needs to teleport a few people, okay?” Ludwig held out Oliver’s phone to him, still having it with him.

“Okay…” Feliciano took it and turned it on, scrolling through the cutesy Oliver-esque contact names until he found what he assumed to be Olivia. He began typing in the message, pressing enter. He turned off the phone, tucking it back into Oliver’s pocket.

Only a few seconds after, Olivia came running through the door, quickly coming up towards Feliciano and Ludwig in the catwalks, “’Ello, poppets!”

“Ciao.” Feliciano looked away a little, shifting uncomfortably. He still didn’t feel very safe around Olivia.

“Oh dear, what happened to everyone!?” Olivia looked around, seeing the pile of unconscious bodies. She walked over to Oliver, where Feliciano was still standing close by.

He tensed the closer she came. “We just knocked them out… I think they’re going to be fine, though…”

“Goody!” Olivia said, “But… Why are they here?”

“They were planning to kill everyone here.” Feliciano said.

“Oh… That sounds like fun! But that’s a bit mean… So what do you want to do with them?” Olivia asked.

Feliciano thought a bit, but his head came up empty. He turned to Ludwig, “Germany, what were we supposed to do with them again? Put them somewhere where they won’t hurt anyone?”

“Ja.” Ludwig nodded, ripping out the last canister, “I know exactly where we should put them.”

“Where?” Feliciano tilted his head.

“In the 2P Axis mansion.” Ludwig said, “I remember there was a video that Kuro posted a while ago… It was in a country-proof room. I’m sure they have more than one, so…”

“So we’ll put them in there?” Feliciano asked.

Ludwig nodded, “For the time being, anyways.”

“Alrighty then!” Olivia chirped. She took out a small piece of pink chalk from her pocket and drew a circle around the pile of unconscious 2Ps. Feliciano had long since stepped away from her, both to let her work so he wouldn’t get caught up in her magic and to somewhat avoid her. She began chanting and with a flash of pink light, their bodies disappeared.

She turned back towards the two males, “So… Now what to do with you two?”

“What do you mean?” Feliciano asked, confused.

“Well, you see…” She skipped closer towards the two, “There’s already two of you here in this movie theatre, down at the seats. So now there are copies.” She poked Feliciano on the nose, “You.”

“Oh…” Feliciano frowned.

“So… What to do with you?” Olivia repeated, grinning sadistically.

Feliciano gulped, taking a step back, “W-What…?”

“Well, if you prevented the deaths of yourselves in the past, that means you shouldn’t exist anymore.” She took a step forward. Feliciano shivered, terrified of the crazy pink swirls in her eyes that only showed when she was insane. She took out her knife, whispering, “You can’t escape the inevitable.”

Feliciano whimpered. He hid behind Ludwig, and looked behind him, spotting Allen’s bat only a short distance away. Taking a step back while turning back to face Olivia, he intended to run and grab it once he had the chance to.

Sensing Feliciano’s fear, Olivia spoke in a sick way of reassuring him as she stepped closer, “Don’t worry, love. You’re still alive… But _you_ can’t be now.”

He saw a chance and took it. He dove down, scooping up the bat and charged at her, trying to hit her.

She simply stepped aside, dodging the blow, “Naughty poppet. One has to die if the other survives. If this Italy dies, then you will as well. However… If you die, the other will never know.” She raised her knife.

Feliciano whimpered, trying to swing at her again, “B-But I don’t want to die…”

Olivia’s foot shot up at Feliciano’s hands, the shock making him let go as the weapon was knocked away, “But then where will you go? There would be problems, having you around...” She grinned deviously, “I can take care of that.”

“Wait… I have an idea!” Ludwig spoke up, catching their attention. Feliciano ran behind Ludwig, clinging onto him as he breathed a small sigh of relief. He was thankful Ludwig was there to save him.

“What is it?” Feliciano asked.

“Put us in a deep sleep, so if the present us somehow get severely injured, lost, or killed… We can replace them. Just make a link so that we'll share memories so that way it won't be so confusing.” Ludwig explained.

Feliciano nodded quickly upon hearing it, “I like this idea better.”

“But it would be so much easier to kill you…” Olivia frowned, but lowered her knife. The pink swirls in her eyes started to fade.

“I like Germany’s idea better.” Feliciano insisted, clinging tighter onto Ludwig.

“Fine.” Olivia sighed, “Come with me, poppets.” She began leading them down the ladder and across the movie theatre to the exit doors.

Feliciano was relieved the movie was so loud that none of the nations heard them, and it was so dark that they couldn’t see them either. They all seemed too entranced with the movie to notice the three nations at all. He caught a glimpse of what was playing on the screen, looking at the splattered blood showing in the movie. It almost didn’t faze him at all anymore with how much real blood he’d seen these past few days. Almost.

He and Ludwig followed Olivia out of the house, walking back to her brightly coloured bakery, where his breathing began to heighten again from just being there. He may have faced off all the 2Ps back in Matthew’s basement, but Olivia still managed to scare him the most. Other than Luciano. Still, only being back at her bakery brought back many bad memories.

“I don’t like being in here…” Feliciano held onto Ludwig’s arm, quaking quietly.

“Why not?” Olivia asked as she stepped behind the counter to tend to a customer waiting in line. “Here’s the cuppycake you ordered! Enjoy!” Almost seeming to pull the cupcake out of thin air, she handed it to the customer.

“You actually work?” Ludwig asked.

“Yes, for fun!” Olivia stepped back out again.

Feliciano hid himself closer to Ludwig, clutching the German’s sleeve tightly, “…I don’t like it here because of the stuff in your basement, and the things that happened in there…” He answered softly.

“Oh, I’m sorry, love… Now right this way, okay?” Olivia began walking leading the two up a flight of stairs.

Ludwig looked down at Feliciano, concerned. “What happened?”

“Lots of stuff happened… But remember when I said Luciano would try to rape me? H-He actually already did… In that basement. He was putting his mouth on my… _Down there_ …” Feliciano mumbled, making a sour face at the memory and shivered slightly.

“What!?” Ludwig’s face twisted into rage, “He. Must. Pay.”

“You gave him a broken arm, two broken legs, most of the ribs were broken, and I couldn't even _tell_ that was Luciano. I think he had enough punishment…” Olivia said. She continued walking down the hallway upstairs until she stopped at a bright pink door, taking out her keys and unlocking it. “This is my little apartment I share with Ollie!” She pushed open the door and walked inside, the two men following after her.

“Why are we up here?” Feliciano asked, taking a look around.

There were two quaint little sofas nearby with a coffee table in front, just enough away for the leg room. It sat on a small rug with a television set in the corner, and that was only what the living room looked like. It would have looked like any normal, cozy sort of house, but with one odd detail. Everything was coloured in either bright pink or bright blue, and the trim was white with frills and lace everywhere. The colours clashed and it hurt Feliciano’s eyes, making him die a little on the inside with how they so desperately needed an interior designer. Fashion and the sort was _very_ important to the Italian.

“Well… I know somewhere you two can stay. For a very long time.” Olivia opened the door to a walk-in closet, switching on the light and beckoning for Feliciano and Ludwig to follow. She pushed racks of frilly dresses away and headed to the back of the closet, where two large magic circles were glowing with a faint pink light. “Ah, here we go. Now just lay down and I can start the spell, okay?”

“Okay…” Feliciano nodded, and laid down in one of the glowing circles. Somehow, they were big enough for him to fit inside, as well as big enough to fit Ludwig in the other circle.

“Guten nacht, Italy.” Ludwig said, laying down beside Feliciano.

“Vee… Buonanotte, Germany.” Feliciano shot Ludwig a small smile. He was scared, he could admit that. The thought of just being asleep for a long time here in a closet in Olivia’s house with Ludwig… But, he found it was still better than being dead, so he decided to just accept it.

“Sweet dreams, poppets.” Olivia whispered. Her hands glowed and she began to start the spell, watching as Feliciano and Ludwig closed their eyes as they fell into a deep sleep, almost in a coma-like state. She started the memory link; from this moment on, Feliciano and Ludwig’s, and this timeloop’s version of them would have their memories linked.

Once the spell was over and the magic stopped flowing through her, Olivia looked at their sleeping faces before turning around, heading back out of the closet. She looked back, hand at the door handle and whispered again, “Forever.”

The light turned off with a click, and the door was shut, enclosing the two sleeping bodies in darkness other than that eerie pink light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry the updates are so slow! These chapters are long and it takes a while ;-;  
> Keep an eye out for the next chapter~ It's going to be much more fluffy~! At least, up until the very end of the chapter~ owo becauseImayormaynothavesomethingplanned-


	5. One Surprise After Another

“Italy, are you okay?” Luise asked the shivering Italian, clinging onto her in the theatre seat, “…I’m never watching a horror movie again.”

Feliciano’s eyes were widened for a second as a flood of memories suddenly came rushing to him. The first timeloop. Everyone was getting killed, he and Ludwig found out the 2Ps were the cause of it, he accidently killed Luciano… Feliciano gulped at that. The second timeloop. Ludwig died. The 2Ps got away. Luciano said he was like him now… The final timeloop. Ludwig helped him. He succeeded in saving everyone, and was put to sleep with Ludwig in Olivia’s closet.

“Italy?” Luise repeated, staring down at him expectantly.

“Oh! Uh… Sì, I… I think I’m okay.” Feliciano clung onto her tighter, “I don’t think I want to watch any of these movies again either…”

“Don’t worry, they’re not real. Let’s just… Forget about them, okay?” She said.

Feliciano nodded, “Okay…” The movies, he could forget easily. But the timeloops, however…

“Now let’s go home.” Luise stood up from her seat.

Feliciano smiled, standing up with her, “Okay! Can we have gelato when we get home?”

“Ja, okay.” She nodded, then winced a little, “Ah… My back hurts for some reason…” She reached to her back to rub the spot where it hurt.

Feliciano’s eyes widened. A sudden déjà vu overwhelmed him as he realized with a sick feeling, that that was where she was previously stabbed when everyone was murdered before, “…U-Um, I’m sure gelato will make you feel better! Let’s go!” He said quickly.

Luise nodded a little. Picking up the Italian, she carried him home.

Not bothering to keep up his cheerful façade, Feliciano stayed silent during the walk home once again. He mulled over his thoughts on what happened before. On his end, he was simply watching the movie until a sudden rush of horrifying memories filled his mind, way more traumatising than the movie ever really would have been. He hoped Luise would understand that he was still pretty shaken up, whether she believed it was from the movie or whatever else, figuring that that was the reason why he wasn’t talking so much again.

He watched as Matthew’s house slowly began to fade into the horizon the more Luise walked back to their house, keeping a tight grip on Feliciano. The male smiled softly; he was glad Luise was alive and safe now. But being so close to her right now, he had a strange feeling inside him that was just a small feeling long before, yet now grew into something bigger.

Before the first timeloop, when everything went to hell, they confessed their love for each other. He wasn’t sure if she meant it romantically or platonically, but he certainly meant it romantically. The thought made him blush, and he would have hugged her right now if he could. She was safe now, and the 2Ps were stopped. Maybe Feliciano got a little braver. Maybe he could protect her now too. Return the favour, since she and Ludwig were always there to protect him.

Maybe one day, _he_ could be the one to save _them_.

***

“Italy?” Luise’s voice spoke, and Feliciano’s eyes fluttered to see he had been set down on the couch. It appeared he fell asleep during the walk home. Rubbing his eyes, he looked up at her and saw her holding a bowl of ice cream. He sat up and Luise handed it to him, “Here’s your gelato.”

He giggled softly. It was always fun to hear her try to speak Italian words; he thought she had such a funny accent when she did that. “Grazie!” He happily accepted the bowl, lifting the spoon and digging into the frozen treat. It was a nice relief to just sit here and eat ice cream. It made him forget about what happened earlier today.

He stopped for a moment once he thought about it again. He looked down, trying to remind himself he didn’t have blood on his clothes anymore. _That_ didn’t happen to him. His future self prevented it.

“Ah… My back still hurts. I think I pulled a muscle or something.” To make matters worse, Luise spoke about her back again and Feliciano paled more than he already did.

“Vee… Want some gelato?” He asked, trying to change the subject as he held up the bowl to her.

She nodded, “Danke.” Taking the bowl, she scooped a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth.

“So what do you want to do now?” Feliciano chirped, tilting his head.

“We could go training.” Luise suggested.

Feliciano’s face fell at that. He really hated training. It was hard, and it exhausted him, “I don’t want to go training, though.”

“Give me one good reason why you shouldn’t.” Luise said.

He thought for a moment, “Well… Because lots of stuff happened today and I’m tired and I want to take a siesta. Can we do that instead?”

“Stuff?” Luise raised a brow, “What kind of stuff? All we did today was sit and watch those movies America brought. You were with me the whole time.”

Feliciano frowned once he realized he slipped up. Looking away, he tried searching for a way out of the hole he dug himself into, internally trying to decide whether he should tell her what happened or not, “Well… Uh… Hey, do you want to know why your back hurts?” He tried to change the subject, hoping he would be able to drift the topic into being able to tell her what happened to him that way.

“Nein, why?” Luise questioned. That wasn’t exactly the reply Feliciano was expecting.

“…No reason! Can we just take a siesta, then?” He asked. Since his plan went down the drain, he figured that maybe it was best to not tell her just yet. Or at least wait until he had the opportunity to.

She sighed, “Fine.” She set the now empty bowl of ice cream on the coffee table and bent down to pick up Feliciano off the couch, “Plus, I think it’s because I stayed in an awkward position for so long during the movies.”

“Right…” Feliciano said quietly, clinging onto her. He felt a little stupid now. That _did_ make more sense than ‘ _her back is somehow hurting right now because she was stabbed in a timeloop that doesn’t even exist anymore’_.

Luise carried him upstairs into the bedroom and laid him down on the bed, “Feliciano, are you okay?”

He looked up at her, a little confused with the question, but nodded, “Sì, I guess… You’re gonna take a siesta with me, right?”

“Ja, I guess so.” She laid down beside him, pulling the covers over them both. She laid on her side, facing him, “What do you mean by ‘I guess’?”

“It’s nothing…” He shook his head, simply wrapping his arms around her in a hug. He closed his eyes, hoping he could fall asleep before he was asked any more questions.

Gently, Luise ran her fingers through the Italian’s hair, “You can tell me, you know.”

He opened his eyes to stare up at her, “Really? What if you don’t believe me?”

“Try me.” She said.

After a short pause, Feliciano decided to take a deep breath and spill everything. He told her about the hangings, the 2Ps, the toxic gas, timeloops, and everything in between that he could remember. He was thankful she listened and wasn’t brushing off what happened as something fake. That was another thing he could count on her to do, even if it was something simple like believing him when he told her something.

“Oh, so I guess training paid off…” Luise said when Feliciano was done explaining. She hugged him back, “I must have meant what I said.”

His heart thumped when she reminded him of the time she said ‘I love you’ to him. He snuggled into her, hugging her tightly, “It was really scary…”

“I’m sorry…” She whispered, stroking his hair, “I promise to never leave you again.”

Feliciano smiled softly. He nuzzled into her chest and yawned a little as he hugged her. He felt safe in her arms, and happy that things would be okay.

Little did he know, he wasn’t about to have a normal day for a long, long while from now on.

“Guten nacht, Italy.” Luise whispered.

“Buonanotte…” He whispered back, slowly drifting off to sleep.

***

Feliciano didn’t think he could feel so rested in the morning after all that happened to him. No bad dreams, no nightmares. He simply slept in Luise’s arms, calmly, and he woke up refreshed and feeling fine. As he yawned, he smiled a little at the soft sunlight escaping past the curtain onto their bedroom floor. He actually felt well-rested, too! Maybe now, he could begin to believe that things would be okay.

He sat up and looked over at Luise, who was beginning to wake up just as he did. “Buongiorno!” He chirped.

“Guten morgen.” Came the sleepy reply. Luise rubbed her eyes, “I need some beer…”

“Vee… Let’s go have breakfast! I’m hungry!” Feliciano jumped out of bed, and grinned as he began heading down to the kitchen. Luise followed behind, and began preparing some wurst once she got into the kitchen.

“By the way, Feliciano… Why would it be a bad thing for Luciano to cut off your curl?” She asked, referring to when Feliciano told her what happened in Matthew’s basement the day before.

“Oh… Well… Did I tell you about my curl, yet?” Feliciano tilted his head. He pulled out a chair and sat at the dining table.

Luise shook her head, “Nein, only Ludwig. Alice refuses to tell me, so I don’t know.” She set a plate down in front of Feliciano as well a plate alongside a glass of beer in the spot beside him, taking a seat there.

“…Do you want me to tell you now?” Feliciano asked. He could swear his cheeks were turning pink right now. It was a very embarrassing and private thing to talk about for him. He felt a little awkward when his curl was brought up.

“Ja.” She said, cutting into her wurst and began eating it.

Slowly, Feliciano picked up his utensils and started eating his wurst as well. He swallowed before continuing on, “Well… It’s this thing called an erogenous zone or something, and it makes me feel weird… _Down there_ … Whenever it’s touched…”

“What exactly do you mean?” Luise asked.

Feliciano took another bite of his breakfast. It was uncomfortable for him to have to explain such an uncomfortable feeling, so he stared down at his plate, “It… It feels weird and makes it all stiff down there… It also feels kind of nice, but it’s _weird_.” He shivered. He couldn’t say he hated the feeling, but it was just so odd and unfamiliar.

“It feels nice?” Before he knew it, Luise reached out and grasped his curl between her fingers, stroking it gently, “How nice?”

Feliciano’s eyes went wide as he blushed, freezing in his chair, “D-Don’t… touch it. Per favore.”

Luise stopped and let go of the strand, “Oh, sorry…”

“V-Vee… It’s okay.” Feliciano muttered, going back to eating his food. He tried to ignore the hotness in his face as well as down in his pants.

“I-I’ll try not to do that again.” Luise took a sip of her beer. “But you’re still training.”

The Italian pouted, setting his fork down on the plate, “But I don’t want to train!”

“But I still want you to.” Luise said.

“But I don’t want to.”

“Italy… Please?”

“I don’t want to, though!”

“Is there any way I can make you?” Luise asked.

“Probably not, because I don’t want to train!” Feliciano pouted, crossing his arms.

Luise stood up, pacing behind Feliciano, “Hm… Are you sure?”

Feliciano’s resolve weakened slightly when she stood up and went behind him. He didn’t know what she was planning, but kept his arms crossed anyway, “Sì.”

“Forgive me…” She said. The next thing he knew was that she had her arms around him and her nose was brushing against his sensitive curl, causing him to gasp and shiver all over, “Please?”

The blush on his cheeks intensified, “S-Stop touching that…!”

“I-I’m sorry…” Luise nuzzled his cheek, but continued to stroke his curl.

He let out a soft, embarrassed moan. He whimpered quietly. What was she trying to do? Seduce him into going to training? “S-Stop!”

“If I do, then will you train?” She asked, stroking the curl a little faster, “A-And what would happen if I…?”

“I-If you what?” Feliciano panted, feeling slightly nervous about what she would say next.

“Pulled your curl?” Luise asked, reaching up and grabbing hold of it. Feliciano’s breath hitched and he tried to stifle the sounds that would escape from his mouth if he hadn’t covered it by now, “Unless you want to train…”

“B-But I don’t want to!” Feliciano stammered softly, his voice straining to keep the arousal out. “Can’t we just do something else?”

“Like what? Forgive me, Feliciano…” Luise said, and pulled on Feliciano’s curl.

The poor Italian hissed out a small moan, shivering in his chair. He was helpless and his pants were beginning to get increasingly tight. He felt so dizzy by now, he could hardly stand being touched like this anymore. It was getting so hard for him to resist, much less think. “Ah! S-Stop!”

“You have to promise me that you’ll train first.” She tugged on the hair strand harder, “So… What will happen?”

The feeling was beginning to become unbearable. He wasn’t sure if he could hold back any longer. He breathed heavily, panting into his sweaty hands that did a clumsy job of trying to cover his increasingly salivating mouth. Shifting uncomfortably on the chair, Feliciano’s eyed were glazed as he tried to stop concentrating on the feeling he was getting from the stimulation to his curl. “P-Please stop…” He whispered, half moaning.

“I will… Once you say that you’ll train. It’s for your own good…” Luise simply continued to tug on the curl, unaware of what consequences would befall from her actions, “I’m sorry, Italy.”

“Ah!” Feliciano inhaled sharply at a particularly hard tug, and at that instant, he let go. He gave in. His lips slammed itself onto Luise’s and kissed her with vigor, his tongue exploring and forcing its way into her unsuspecting mouth.

Luise’s eyes widened in shock at the sudden kiss. She let go of the curl as she stood frozen in place, a dark blush growing on her own cheeks.

Once Feliciano came to his senses a few seconds later, he immediately drew back from her lips, stammering and whimpering as he covered his mouth with his hands from embarrassment. He squeaked out a small, “I-I’m sorry!”

“O-Oh… It’s okay, Italy…” Luise blinked out of her stupor, blushing just as much as he was, “I-It was kind of enjoyable…”

Feliciano stared into her eyes, blushing hard. He couldn’t think of a proper response since he was too flustered at this point and a silence rang in the air, other than the soft sound of his panting.

Luise broke the silence between them, “D-Do you want to train now?”

“…But I told you, I don’t like training.” Feliciano pouted.

“Please?” She asked.

“I don’t wanna.” He said.

She huffed, “Fine, then.” Luise leaned forward and kissed Feliciano softly on the lips. His eyes widened and his mouth went into a shocked ‘o’ formation. The German lady blushed when she finally pulled away, “Now?”

“B-But training’s so boring…” Feliciano said, the hot feeling in his cheeks overwhelming him.

“So we’ll get that over with earlier, ja?” Luise reached up and stroked his curl.

 _Oh no, not again._ Feliciano gasped and made a tiny squeaking sound. “B-But I’d rather not train at all…”

“Please?” She tugged on it.

Feliciano’s mouth let out a moan as his eyelids fluttered. He was trying his best to ignore the feeling. Really, he was. “B-But I don’t wanna…”

He gasped, moaning louder as he felt the pressure from the tugging increasing, “N-Now?” Luise asked.

“I-I don’t… Ahh! I-I don’t wanna..!” Feliciano whimpered, quivering and began to rock back and forth in his chair. He remembered Ludwig talking about what happened when it got stiff and uncomfortable down there. He talked about how sex got rid of the hardness and the feeling…

“But it’s good for you…”

He didn’t know how else to relieve himself other than ignoring it or doing… things, with another person, like what happened to him before. And with how much his curl was pulled, he wasn’t sure if he could ignore it any longer.

The more Luise tugged on his curl, the harder it was for him to stop these strange feelings from taking over. His pants were painfully tight, and soon enough only one thing was on his mind; to relieve himself. He let out a hiss of pleasure, and let himself go to lean towards her and kiss her on the lips, shoving his tongue into her mouth once again. This time, she wasn’t shocked. She actually accepted the kiss readily, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him back. In the back of Feliciano’s mind, he couldn’t help but wonder if this was what she wanted all along.

Teasingly, Feliciano trailed his hands down Luise’s sides, placing his hands at her waist. Both of their faces were painted a rosy, dark pink as they kissed. Eventually, they needed to break away for air and panted softly.

“I-Italy…?” Luise stared into his eyes, which by now were clouded with lust.

“I told you not to touch my curl…” Feliciano panted, blushing profusely. Slowly, he drew himself towards her lips and pressed them against hers once more.

The next thing Feliciano knew, their clothes were strewn haphazardly on the floor and they moved up to the bedroom together. Panting and blushing hard, the two lay in their blissful afterglow, where Feliciano had finally gotten rid of his ‘little problem’. The strange feeling was now fading away and only then did Feliciano really realize what just happened between him and Luise. Of course, it was still a struggle to think with how lightheaded he felt.

His face must have resembled a tomato by now. He was embarrassed that he lost control like that, but after all… It was with someone he loved, wasn’t it? It really wasn’t like what happened with Luciano. Not at all. Maybe he could feel a bit more comfortable then, since it was with Luise, so he didn’t regret it one bit.

One thing he did regret however, with a startling realization, was that it all happened so fast. They hadn’t bothered to think about using protection.

The tiredness he felt was instantly replaced by panic. What if she got pregnant? They weren’t even married yet, much less in a proper boyfriend and girlfriend relationship in the first place! Sex before marriage was wrong. But wasn’t he told he’d already done this sort of thing before anyway, when he was under that weird potion? Feliciano tensed a little at remembering about the potion, but decided to try to forget about it again.

He panted heavily as he lay on top of Luise, “Ah… I-I’m sorry… I couldn’t hold it…”

“I-It’s okay…” She breathed, a hand at his cheek as she stared up at the man who had taken her first time before speaking the words he longed to hear. “Ich liebe dich.”

Feliciano felt a wave of relief rush over him, now that she confirmed she really did love him. He smiled softly and pecked her on the lips, “Ti amo anch’io.” He ran his fingers through her short hair, relishing in her beauty for a few more seconds before pressing his lips against hers in a deeper kiss.

“You’re training tomorrow, then.” She smiled against his lips.

“Aww…” He whined, but didn’t wholly protest this time.

Luise pecked him on the nose and smiled, “But not today, okay?”

“Okay…” Feliciano smiled back. He hugged her, pressing his bare body close to hers.

Through the silence, Feliciano could swear he heard a faint sound of thumping suddenly getting louder. He really wondered what it could have been. Until the bedroom door suddenly swung open loudly, that is. Feliciano turned his head to face whoever it was who suddenly came in through the door in a panic; after all, he was still naked with Luise.

“Fratello, where have you—” Oh no. Feliciano recognized the rough voice of his older brother, Lovino, before he even saw who it was. When Feliciano finally got to see his brother standing in the doorway, Lovino’s mouth was agape in shock, staring wide eyed at his baby brother lying in bed with the German woman. “Oh…” Promptly, he fainted at the sight.

Feliciano got off of Luise to sit up in the bed, concern lacing his expression, “…Do you think fratello’s going to be okay?” He asked.

“Ja…” Luise said, sitting up beside Feliciano and pulling the covers over her chest as she did so.

Now they could hear a feminine, albeit slightly raspy voice ascending the stairs in laughter. “Hah! Take _that_ , Hungary! I meant it when I said you’re less awesome than your female counterpart!” Julchen sped through the bedroom door, quickly closing and locking it. She turned around to see her little sister with Feliciano, as well as Lovino lying unconscious on the floor, “Oh, hey, what’s Roma doing on the floor?”

“Well he…” Feliciano scratched the back of his head, trying to figure out a way to explain to her, “He came here, but then he fainted…”

“Why?” Julchen asked. She wasn’t paying too much attention to the lack of the couple’s clothes, and strode over towards the bedroom’s mini fridge.

“I don’t know. He fainted before he could tell us anything.” Feliciano said.

“No, not that.” Julchen shook her head, taking a bottle of beer out of the fridge and opened it, preparing to drink it, “Why _did_ he faint?”

“Oh… Well… I think it’s because he was kind of surprised to see us in the bedroom together like this?” Feliciano’s cheeks turned a light pink.

Julchen spit out her beer, “What!?” The realization dawned on her face as she turned towards Feliciano and Luise, who, was starting to look beet red in the face at the way her older sister was reacting to this. “Monika Luise Beilschmidt! You got laid!!!” The Prussian chuckled. Before they knew it, she’d gone back into the kitchen and picked up their clothes from the floor. Returning to the two blushing nations sitting together in silence on the bed, she held up the clothes and grinned, “Looking for these? Wow, Italy! You finally did it!”

Feliciano blinked, tilting his head, “Did what?”

Julchen winked, tossing the clothes toward the pair, “Did it with the right person.” Feliciano and Luise blushed, standing up and putting their clothes back on. Luise walked over to get some beer for herself, when Julchen suddenly asked, “So, when’s the wedding?”

Luise’s eyes widened, choking on her drink for a second as she went red in the face, “W-Wedding!?”

“Come on, you know you want to!” Julchen smirked, playfully noogying her sister.

Luise was still shocked, stammering, “I-I… Uh…”

“ _Are_ we going to get married?” Feliciano tilted his head, asking in a hopeful tone. It made him blush, but he really did want to get married to her.

“I have the registration papers ready!” Julchen piped up.

“W-What!?” Luise stared at her. It seemed like everything was moving so fast, so sudden.

“Fratello, what the fuck did you do!!?” Lovino shouted. He had regained consciousness and stood up, staring at Feliciano. “Did you just fuck her!?”

Feliciano flinched at the sudden yelling, “Well I… Um… Sì…” He mumbled, looking down and going red in the face.

Lovino stood there, having to process what his little brother had done, “Holy crapola…” He then fell to the ground, fainting once again in shock.

“At least I’m not the only one with older siblings being strange.” Luise muttered, looking over at Julchen, who was chattering away about her getting to have two little brothers in law if Feliciano and Luise got married.

“Kesesese— Wait, what?” Julchen looked over at Luise, not hearing what she said, “Okay, now just sign here, here, and there!” She came up to Luise and Feliciano with a pen, holding out what appeared to be the marriage registration forms.

“W-What?” Luise stared at the papers.

“Okay!” Feliciano smiled and took the pen first, signing his name on the documents. He handed back the pen when he was done.

“Come on, West!” Julchen said, turning to Luise now, who was blushing and just standing there, staring at the paper and pen. “What are you waiting for, Monika? Go ahead!”

“Sì, how come you don’t want to sign it?” Feliciano asked, tilting his head.

“I-I do, but I…” Luise blushed.

“Go on~” Julchen grinned.

Luise glared over at her. “Leave!”

The albino chuckled and rolled her eyes, “Whatever you say, West. Hey, I’m gonna find Spain and take _this one_ over to him, so don’t worry about him. See you later!” She picked up Lovino, carrying the unconscious Italian over her shoulders and began walking out the door.

Feliciano watched as she left, then turned back to face Luise, “But you what?”

After stretching her head to look out the door, making sure Julchen really was gone, Luise hung her head, “I-I don’t think I’m good enough for you…”

“What? That’s not true.” Feliciano said, hugging her.

She sighed, “Maybe…”

“Well, I think you’re the best person in the world!” Feliciano smiled, nuzzling her gently.

“D-Danke.” Luise smiled back a little, before sighing and pulling away from the hug, hiding her face in her arms as she put her head on the table beside them. “Ah, I don’t need compliments…”

“What’s wrong?” Feliciano asked, concerned.

“It’s just that I…” She began, her voice muffled slightly, “I…”

“You what?” He tilted his head.

“I-I’m not good enough…” Luise mumbled.

Feliciano frowned slightly at that. How could she ever say or think that about herself? Didn’t she know what an amazing and special person she was to him? “But you are.” He came up behind her and hugged her tightly.

She looked up a little to whisper, “Why are you being so nice to me? I mean, I’m not ladylike at all… I’m hardly cute, beautiful, or attractive… I don’t even look like a girl or act like one, but yet…”

Feliciano couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He couldn’t understand why she was saying these things when she was really so wonderful. He couldn’t allow anyone to talk about themselves that way, especially not such an incredibly amazing lady, the woman he loved. “Stop saying that about yourself. You’re beautiful. You’re the most beautiful ragazza in the world!” He hugged her tightly.

“A-Are you sure?” Luise looked back at him, slowly turning to face him and revealed her tomato-red face.

“Sì.” He smiled, kissing her gently on the cheek.

“D-Danke…” She smiled back a little.

“So what do you want to do now?” Feliciano asked.

“I know this sounds really bad… But I still want to train…” Luise said. She noticed the way Feliciano pouted and whined at that, and looked him in the eyes, hands at his shoulders, “Do you want to know why I push you so much during training?”

Confused, Feliciano tilted his head, “Why?”

“Well… The real reason is…” She began, “Just in case something happens to you, a-and I can’t be there for you in time…”

“But you wouldn’t let anything happen to me…” Feliciano frowned a little.

“But I _did_ … In those timeloops you told me about…” Luise hung her head and sobbed softly, “I-I broke my promise…”

Feliciano hugged her, sensing her sorrow, “What happened back then doesn’t matter anymore. It doesn’t exist, so don’t cry… It’s not your fault.”

“I-I’m sorry…” Luise hugged him back.

“It’s okay now.” He tried to comfort her, stroking her hair a little.

“Danke…” She said, “You’re still training, though.”

Feliciano pouted, “But I thought you said we weren’t going to train today.”

“Fine, tomorrow. Today, we plan for something else…”

With a small tilt of his head, Feliciano asked, “Plan for what?”

Luise smiled, picking up the pen that Julchen left behind on the table, “Our wedding.” She signed the papers.

Abruptly, Feliciano’s older sister, Chiara came running in the room through the open door. She was frowning as usual, holding up the skirt part of her pink and black dress to be able to run properly as she stomped over to Feliciano and Luise. Feliciano was wondering why all these people were somehow just barging into their house so frequently today.

“Why the hell did that albino potato bastarda put me in a bridesmaid dress!?” She snapped, demanding answers.

“I think it’s because we’re having a wedding!” Feliciano grinned.

Luise groaned, muttering a little, “Here we go again…”

As Chiara’s eyes lay on the documents on the table, she stared back and forth at Feliciano and Luise for a second before blowing up, “You’re marrying the potato bastarda without even telling your sorella maggiore!? Holy crapola mio dio!! _And_ let her goddamn sister put me in a fucking dress for fuck’s sake! And didn’t even let me choose whether you could marry her or not in the first place!”

Feliciano shrank back as he was yelled at, whimpering a little, “V-Vee… So, uh, do we have your blessi—”

Ignoring Feliciano, Chiara just continued to ramble loudly, “And for the love of God, let me look over your wedding plans so I can make sure there are tomatoes at the buffet table and— What did I just say?” She blinked.

“Uh… You said to let you look at the wedding plans to make sure there’s tomatoes at the buffet table…” Feliciano tilted his head, smiling a bit. “Does this mean you’re gonna let us get married?”

“I-I… Uh…” A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Chiara’s head.

“Yay! Grazie, sorella!” Feliciano smiled, happily hugging his sister, who sighed and pat him on the head.

“Sì, sì, now don’t screw this up, okay?”

“Okay!” Feliciano nodded.

“D-Danke…” Luise looked over to Chiara shyly.

“At least you’re not as stupid as your male counterpart.” Chiara nodded curtly, “Now I’m going to go off and throttle whoever made this dress.” She pushed her brother off of her before walking out of the room, closing the door behind her.

“…So what do you want to do now?” Feliciano asked, turning to Luise.

“Well, my schwester should barge through the door in three… Two…”

“I have your dress!” Julchen, true to Luise’s word, all of a sudden came into the room once again. This time, she was holding a long, green, brown, and white German looking dress up towards Luise, grinning broadly. “And I planned the entire wedding! Kesesesesese!” She laughed extensively before adding, “By the way, we’re having chocolate cake.”

“That’s nice! Grazie!” Feliciano smiled.

“Wait, what!?” Luise blinked.

“The entire world has been planning this for a while, so…” Julchen shrugged, then thrust the dress towards Luise, “Now put on the dress!”

“Nein.” Luise said.

Feliciano stared at the dress; it was beautiful. He couldn’t wait to see Luise wearing it. “Can I see you wearing it?” He asked, grinning with innocent excitement.

She just blushed, repeating, “Nein…”

“Why not? I bet you would look really pretty in it!” Feliciano smiled.

Luise blushed harder, “I-I… Uh…”

“Will try it on.” Julchen finished for her, and pushed her into the bathroom to change into the dress.

While waiting for the girls to finish in the bathroom, Feliciano opened the window to let the light in a little more and hoisted himself up onto the bed, swinging his legs over the edge. He looked out the window, humming a little. Thinking he saw a small flash of light up in a nearby tree, he looked over, but saw nothing. He shrugged, and instead looked up at the clouds.

“I saved an awesome traditional German wedding dress for this occasion!” Julchen chirped as she pushed a blushing Luise out of the bathroom. Feliciano looked back at her, smiling brightly. She was wearing the dress. It clung onto her in all the right places, and fell just at her ankles. She looked gorgeous.

“Wow! You look really pretty!”

Luise just shook her head at the compliment, blushing, “Nein…”

“Hey, what’s that in the tree?” Julchen asked, pointing over at the window.

“Hm?” Feliciano looked back over to the tree. He remember seeing that flash in the tree earlier, but he hadn’t thought much of it. Now, though, he could barely make out two figures in the tree with bob haircuts. He blinked, then waved cheerfully, “Ciao!”

“Japan!” Luise shouted, coming up to the window and glaring at the two, “How long have you been there!?”

Saying nothing, Kiku and Sakura simply vanished into the tree. Julchen chuckled, “You guys are screwed.” Suddenly, a phone’s notification sound rang in the air. Julchen pulled out her phone, checking it, “Oh, looks like I got a text. …Woah, that was fast.”

“Huh?” Feliciano tilted his head.

“They posted a few… Uh… Videos.” Julchen said.

“What videos?” Feliciano asked.

“Uh… Nothing! Kesesese… Nothing, Feli.” Julchen turned off her phone quickly before Feliciano or Luise could see what videos she was talking about.

“…C-Can I get out of this dress now?” Luise asked, shifting uncomfortably.

“If you really want to. But you look really pretty in it, though!” Feliciano smiled. He watched as Luise headed off back into the washroom to change. He and Julchen began to talk about the wedding plans, and how she was sure Luise would pick her to be her maid of honour, before Luise emerged from the bathroom to see Julchen chuckling on the bed with Feliciano, talking to him.

“Okay, well I’m going to go beat Gilbert in a drinking contest now. Auf wiedersehen!” Julchen pat Feliciano on the head and got off the bed, dashing off to exit the room.

He and Luise watched her run off, and Feliciano stood up from the bed, walking over to Luise. It appeared she was back in her military uniform, but he thought she was still as beautiful as ever. Though, very intimidating, but he still loved her anyway.

“So, what should we do now?” Feliciano asked.

“We could get some beer…?” Luise suggested, “Or train…”

Feliciano pouted, “But you said we would train tomorrow!”

“Fine.” Luise scratched the back of her neck, “I never had much free time before… So I don’t really know what else to do.”

Feliciano frowned a bit at that. It was a bit sad that she didn’t know any other things they could do together besides train. He began thinking of something nice they could do together, almost like some kind of date, maybe. It _would_ make sense to go on one now, though. Since they would get married and all, they probably should have gone on a date much earlier.

“Oh! Maybe we could go for a walk in the park!” Feliciano grinned.

“Hm… Almost like training. Ja, okay.” Luise nodded.

They headed down to the front door, and headed out of the house. Luise was about to start jogging as if she was training, but Feliciano stopped her by grabbing her hand, saying he meant they would only take a slow walk together. The German woman blushed softly at their hands touching, but agreed to a slow walk, and off they went, holding hands.

They held hands as they walked back home, too.

Feliciano thought they had a great time together. He’d been looking around at everything they passed, drinking in all the sights as they wandered into a calm park, with grassy fields and a stony pathway, trees lining the sides and creating a canopy over them. At one point, he ran up ahead, stopping at the edge of the pathway and pointed toward the field of grass at a small, vibrant coloured flower to talk about how pretty he thought it was.

_Luise just chuckled and ran up next to him, “Ja, it is. There’s another one over there, too…” She smiled, and had pointed at an identical flower close by._

_“So pretty!” Feliciano had spun around happily before lying on his back on the grass, “Come lay down with me!” He thought it would be nice to look up at the clouds, without a care in the world. “Hey, that one looks like a kitty!” He pointed._

_Having laid down beside him, Luise stared up at it, “Hm, it looks like a grenade now…”_

_Feliciano’s grin was replaced with a strange look directed at Luise for a second before another cloud caught his attention, “Oh! That one looks like a plate of pasta!”_

_Luise looked up to where Feliciano pointed, “I-It kind of looks like a heart now…” She blushed._

Feliciano shook his head a little at what came next on their date. Apparently, the two Japans as well as Julchen and Gilbert had been stalking them, hiding in trees and bushes. They were taking pictures, too. It was a little embarrassing for the Italian, but Luise managed to scare them off in the end. She had to tranquilize Kiku, but they made sure to drop him off at his house before they came back home as well.

At the park, though, they sat under a tree and simply talked. They talked about things that made them blush, like of their marriage plans, of training, and how Feliciano had taken her on a whim and now Luise had the sudden realization that it would be very possible that they would be having a baby of their own because of that. Feliciano had also tried to convince her that going on dates wasn’t hard, but being as inexperienced as she was, she disagreed, saying that dating and romance were just too confusing to her.

Along the way, Feliciano asked her if he could have some gelato once they got home.

“Ja, sure.” Luise nodded.

“Yay! What flavour?” Feliciano asked.

“Strawberry.” She answered, even though she knew full well that the poor Italian had developed a slight phobia of red; possibly even more so now. She was trying to help him recover, which was why she was exposing him to red things.

Feliciano stiffened, tensing a bit at the mention of the word. Looking back now, he started to calm, though. Matthew’s house was filled with red things and he’d been just fine, although he’d hyperventilated a little. He was also given ice cream with strawberries mixed in and only stopped when he knew there were strawberries in them. Before then, he didn’t know and was fine with eating it. Plus, with the horror that happened in Matthew’s basement with the past timeloops, Feliciano figured he could tolerate red slightly better now that he was somewhat numb to it instead.

He nodded slowly, “Okay.” At least strawberries weren’t blood.

Luise opened their front door, walking inside. Feliciano quickly made his way onto the couch, crashing face down onto the soft cushion before looking up and seeing Luise walking into the kitchen to fetch him some ice cream.

“Here you go.” She said a little later, holding the bowl to him, also returning with a bottle of beer in her hand.

“Grazie!” Feliciano sat up, taking the bowl and dug into the dessert with his spoon. He hummed happily. He really had missed the taste of strawberry without the sick feeling of being reminded of blood. And the frozen treat felt wonderful after a hot day just after he’d been out walking with Luise.

Standing beside the couch where Feliciano was sitting on, Luise opened the beer bottle, taking a swig at it before speaking. “You know, Ita—”

Suddenly, her eyes rolled to the back of her head as she stopped mid-sentence. She slumped to the ground, letting go of the beer bottle which made the liquid inside spill all over herself and the carpet.

Feliciano’s eyes widened as he instantly knew something was wrong. Now he was concerned and all the happiness he felt from before was thrown out the window. What was happening? He set aside the bowl of gelato, rushing to kneel at her side and poke her cautiously. Luise was laying limp, barely breathing.

After receiving no response, Feliciano began to panic. He didn’t know what to do, or what was going on. That was when he decided to call Ludwig. Ludwig was really smart, so he would probably know what to do.

Wasting no time, Feliciano whipped out his phone and called his friend, frantically hoping Ludwig would pick up the phone and help him soon.

“Ja?” The deep voice on the other side asked.

“Germany, help! I don’t know what’s wrong with Luise!” Feliciano whimpered into the phone, looking back at his fiancée. Seeing how she was just lying there made him worry about if she could be dead or not right now. He shivered. He really didn’t want to go through all the torture again… But a strange feeling made him feel as if he most likely would _have_ to. As if something big was coming soon, and he didn’t like it one bit.

“What!? What happened!?” Ludwig asked, concern lacing his tone.

“I don’t know! We— We came home just now, and… And she fainted! I don’t know what to do…!” Feliciano said.

“I’ll be there right away!” Ludwig said, before the dial tone sounded and the German had hung up. At least now, Feliciano felt a small sense of security that Ludwig was on his way and would try to help. Hopefully, he _could_ help. “Italy!” Ludwig burst through the front door, “Where is she!?”

Feliciano turned his head towards Ludwig and raised his hand, waving him over to where he was still kneeling beside Luise. Ludwig quickly came to her side, picking up her arm to check her pulse.

“She’s barely making a heartbeat per minute…” Ludwig said. He spotted the bottle of beer that she’d spilled and gave a hard stare at it, mumbling, “That’s weird… I don’t remember her buying that brand before…” He grabbed the suspicious bottle, sniffing its contents a slight ways away from contact of his nose, “This… Smells like… Poison.”

Feliciano paled, whimpering as he sat there on the floor, “P-Poison?” He repeated, eyes wide.

Ludwig nodded slowly, “Poison. Belladonna, to be exact… Hm? What’s this?” His eyes gazed over a small flash of out-of-place colour on the ground, He reached towards it, picking up a small strand of fuchsia coloured hair. His brow furrowed in deep thought, “I wonder… Mein Gott, that scheming little…!”

Feliciano’s mouth curved down. He knew fuchsia hair could only mean Luciano was behind this. But… _Why?_ Why again? “Why would he do something like that?”

 “I don’t know, you tell me.” Ludwig mumbled, “Hm, ironic he used belladonna, though. As you probably know, it means ‘Beautiful lady’ in your language.”

Feliciano tilted his head and frowned. “But she _is_ pretty, though…”

“Ja, but he apparently wants her out of the way.” Ludwig replied, “It's like complimenting her while trying to kill her...”

Feliciano frowned. What could Luciano possibly want her ‘out of the way’ for? Thinking back to recent events, he tried to remember what happened back in Matthew’s basement, which wasn’t too much of a hassle even though he’d been trying to block the entire thing from his mind, since it only happened the day before. “In one of the timeloops, he said he loved me…” He mumbled.

It did make sense, though. Luciano loving Feliciano could be a valid reason why he was suddenly doing these things. And it wasn’t just in Matthew’s theatre; Luciano also said he cared about him back in Olivia’s basement, and that could have translated to love as well. Maybe he heard somehow that Feliciano and Luise were getting married and could possibly have gotten jealous if he really did love him.

“I think he loves you too much…” Ludwig said.

Feliciano shivered slightly. He definitely wasn’t planning on loving Luciano back. “I don’t think I like him anymore… So how do we fix Luise?”

“Take her to the hospital.” Ludwig said.

“I’m afraid that won’t work.” A voice interrupted.

Feliciano stiffened once he heard it. He could recognize it anywhere, as the smooth, evil sounding tone came from seemingly nowhere.

“Sì, although the macho potato has figured out the main ingredient, I’m afraid there’s another part of my own invention… And I have the cure the doctors won’t find until it’s too late.” Luciano said. His voice sent chills down Feliciano’s back. It seemed Luciano had already recovered from Ludwig’s beating yesterday, and was back to terrorizing his counterpart.

“Wh-Why… Why are you doing this?” Feliciano squeaked, whimpering softly.

A creepy laugh rang through the air, “Why, for _you_ , of course, Feliciano. Isn’t that right, potato bastardo?”

“Luciano!” Ludwig growled, clenching his fist, “I’ll pound you to dust again if I have to!”

Out of nowhere, a knife suddenly sailed through the air, slicing just so that it barely missed Ludwig’s head. A warning shot. “I could have aimed just an inch closer… So consider yourself lucky that I’m in a good mood. Now, if you want both Monika and Ludwig alive, come to my place to have a nice… _Chat_. If not, both will die.”

“Both…?” Feliciano wondered. Before he could say anything else, a dart was suddenly shot at Ludwig. The German’s eyes widened before he woozily fell to the ground, unconscious and in the same state as Luise, and Feliciano then knew that the dart was likely poisoned too. _Ludwig_ was poisoned now.

“Well? Are you coming, Feliciano? Time is running out…”

Feliciano didn’t want to go. He didn’t have Ludwig, and he didn’t have Luise. He was alone. He didn’t want to face Luciano alone; he was scared about what his counterpart might do to him this time. But, if he didn’t go, then he’d be alone permanently. Ludwig and Luise would die for sure. He had no way of knowing whether he could trust his 2P or not, but he had to make a decision quickly.

With a gulp, he looked down at the bodies beside him. He turned his head toward the door and forced his feet to move, walking out of the house. He was on his way to Luciano’s mansion.


	6. Luciano's Mansion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This may or may not be a tiny rape warning-  
> I'm pretty sure it counts? It's not consensual, but I promise that part of the story isn't extremely explicit or anything, okay? Just about a small paragraph and a half, since Luciano only sticks it in for a few seconds before the door gets broken down. So here's your warning, now enjoy, or not, but hopefully you'll still enjoy the story anyway.

The streets were cold and lonely. The dark, gloomy sky, which had been filled with white and fluffy clouds only hours ago, was now painted shades of oranges, and dark blue bordering black. Stars dotted the sky faintly. Though, the stars seemed dim with the few streetlights that were lighting Feliciano’s way down the sidewalk. He huffed, not having much time to appreciate the sky this time as he was running faster than he’d ever ran towards Luciano’s place. He didn’t know how much time he had left until it was too late for his best friend and fiancée, and he didn’t want to take any chances.

Why did it have to be poison? Why did Luciano have to hurt them? Maybe he could manage to get answers once he arrived at the 2P Axis mansion. Right now, he was too distraught to think, only focusing on getting himself to Luciano’s mansion quickly.

He had guessed that Luciano might try to do something to him then, so he would keep his guard up. He doubted Luciano was only trying to have a simple, friendly chat with him.

Breathless, he dashed off through the night, finally stopping at the large, ornate gates at the front of the towering mansion. They were open, as if they’d been expecting him, so Feliciano slipped through quietly, making his way to the front door.

Taking a deep breath, he pressed his finger on the doorbell. His heart pounded in his chest as he awaited what would come when the door would open. He could admit it; he was scared. But as he looked around, he found that the house itself was actually rather lovely. Even if the shadows it cast looked creepy, it was still pleasing to the eye in a beautifully haunting way. The porchlight lit up the front steps. The trim on the door was also a dark colour, but it was hard to tell just what shade with the lighting, whether it was red or brown. 

He rocked back and forth on his feet nervously, wondering what was taking so long. Maybe they were planning to kill him right here on the doorstep, maybe it was a trap, maybe they—

A sudden light shone dimly in front of him, “Finally, you came.” …Maybe it was just that Lutz, the laziest of the bunch, was the one who got up to answer the door.  “Get in.” The German opened the door wider, allowing the light to escape into the night, and allowed Feliciano to walk meekly into the trio’s abode.

Lutz closed the door behind the Italian, locking it firmly and muttered to Feliciano, “He’s in the master bedroom down the hall. Go.” Feliciano watched as the taller man walked off to lounge on the couch.

He gulped, walking off down the hallway to look for the bedroom. His footsteps echoed eerily, and it felt to Feliciano as if something was going to pop out of nowhere and attack him. He had to be ready for whatever Luciano was planning. Nearby, he saw a light coming through the cracks of one of the doors and saw that the door was opened slightly. Walking towards it, he reached for the doorknob, trying to steady his hand to grasp it and push open the door, peeking inside.

There, sitting on a red chaise lounge atop a couple of pillows, was Luciano who had his legs crossed, twirling a bloodstained knife lazily in one hand with his eyes trained at the door, watching Feliciano. “Ciao.” He said smoothly. It seemed Feliciano found the master bedroom.

“Ciao…” Feliciano mumbled back in response, averting his eyes and warily stepping into the room. He had no choice, after all.

“What’s wrong, Feliciano? Aren’t you happy to see me?” Luciano asked, grinning as he continued to twirl the knife in his hand.

“Not really…” Feliciano looked down. Why would he be happy to see him in the first place? Even so, he walked into the room more, going a bit closer to Luciano.

“Aw, but I’m so glad to have my new _pet_.” Luciano smirked, and with a snap of his fingers, the door suddenly closed behind the 1P, causing him to jump. “Now where was I? Ah, yes. Come sit down, Feliciano. You must be tired of standing.”

“I’m fine with standing.” Feliciano said quickly. He didn’t want to be closer to the murderous man more than he had to, “Why do you want me here anyway?”

“Oh, it’s simple, really.”  Luciano’s leg stretched out, and wrapped around Feliciano, pulling the boy closer. He grinned slyly, tilting up Feliciano’s chin with a finger. He spoke in a breathy tone, “Can you guess what it is?” After receiving no response other than soft whimpers, Luciano said again, “Come now, take a guess.”

Feliciano’s eyes widened as he felt Luciano’s lips on his, kissing him with his mouth curved into a slight smirk. Hastily, he pulled away, “A-Are you gonna try to rape me again?”

“It’s not rape when you enjoy it.” Luciano stroked his counterpart’s curl and grinned.

“But I’m not enjoying this.” Feliciano shook his head and tried to step away, only for his arm to be grabbed alongside the feeling of a cold metal blade on his cheek.

“I don’t want to do this, Feliciano, so stay put like a good boy.” Luciano warned, his chilling tone causing Feliciano to shiver, but evidently stopped him from escaping. Luciano smirked, “Buono. What’s wrong? Aren’t you enjoying this?”

“N-No, I’m not.” Feliciano answered quietly.

“Why not?” Luciano asked, touching his curl teasingly.

“B-Because I don’t like you in that way!” Feliciano frowned at his counterpart, trying not to let out a moan. His heart, at the moment, belonged to Luise and Luise only.

“That’s sad… If you can’t love yourself, who can you love?” Luciano smirked, looping around his finger and tugging the erogenous zone once more.

Feliciano gasped, his hands flying to his mouth to muffle the sounds. Why couldn’t he just go one day without someone pulling on his curl like this? “S-Stop touching that!”

“I don’t want to.” Came Luciano’s reply. His free hand began undoing Feliciano’s tie, tossing it aside and started pulling off the 1P’s jacket.

This wasn’t what Feliciano came for, and he didn’t want to have to deal with it now. He had to ignore the blinding pleasure the stimulation from his curl was giving him, and focus on what really mattered, “I-I thought you said you would give me the cure for Luise and Luddy…”

“I will, but for a small fee.” Luciano whispered, tugging on the curl more. “Just one night of… _Pleasure_.”

Feliciano’s eyes widened as he shook his head rapidly, “B-But shouldn’t it only be done by people who actually love each other in that way?”

“Who said it has to be that way?” Luciano asked. He stood up, pulling Feliciano roughly towards the bed and pinned him down on it. He gazed down at the trapped nation, watching as his chest heaved from fear and pleasure.

“L-Lots of people! A-And won’t this mean I’ll be cheating?” Feliciano whimpered, too scared to make an effort to escape. He didn’t want to end up stabbed by Luciano’s knife, even though he was very much aware of how wrong and terrifying this situation was. Even now, he wanted to always remain faithful to Luise.

“Which people?” Luciano questioned. The sound of his pants’ zipper being undone filled the air along with Feliciano’s laboured breathing. Luciano slowly began to strip off his clothes, “Besides, wouldn’t it be better if you ‘cheated’, and Monika lived, rather than you didn’t and she died?”

Feliciano frowned, whimpering softly. That was two things he would not choose between; he was going to make sure he was faithful, _and_ Luise was alive. “I-I don’t want to do this with you. Can’t you just give me the cure and leave me alone?”

“Give me one good reason why I should.” Luciano said, his hands sliding down and pulling off Feliciano’s pants and boxers. Once again, his private area was exposed to Luciano, and Feliciano’s fear heightened. He didn’t want this. Now he was really scared.

“I-It’s not right! It’s not nice to rape people!” He frantically tried to reason, squirming away from him a little as he attempted to cover himself up again.

“Does it look like I give a fuck?” Luciano smirked, raising a brow. He yanked on the whimpering man’s curl with more force, “Plus, you might enjoy it.”

“I-I don’t think I will…” Feliciano mumbled softly, tears at his eyes.

“Be prepared for surprises.” Luciano spoke in a husky tone.

“Why are you doing this to me…? What happened in that basement to make you all creepy like this?” Feliciano stared up at him nervously. He knew Luciano was definitely not like _this_ before they were both in the basement together. That was when he first started acting odd, kissing him and calling him cute.

“Oh, nothing. I just went more insane than I already am.” Luciano smirked, reaching down and stroking Feliciano’s cock slowly, the 1P not daring to fight against him in fear of getting hurt by the knife, “Plus… It was you who broke what I had left of my sanity…”

Feliciano shivered. But he couldn’t help but feel a bit of remorse. He knew he wasn’t under control at the time, that it was his opposite self who likely caused this comeuppance, but he still felt the need to apologize if it was technically his fault, “I-I’m sorry…”

All of a sudden, banging sounds were heard on the door. The Italians turned their heads toward the direction as Lutz’s voice called out, “Luciano, open up!” Feliciano’s eyes widened. He hoped that Lutz was going to stop Luciano, or at least distract him. He was much too optimistic to consider the possibility Lutz might want to join in with Luciano’s _fun_ , but the frightening thought was at the back of his mind.

Luciano’s eyes narrowed, frowning. He threw a knife at the door, and it landed smack dab into the wood with a thud, “I’m busy!” He shouted back. Feliciano tried to slow down his breathing, inching away from the 2P ever so slightly on the bed. Luciano turned back toward Feliciano, glaring at him, “On your hands and knees, we have to make this quick.”

Feliciano blinked, whimpering softly as he backed away, “W-What…? Why?”

Luciano grit his teeth as Lutz continued to slam on the door, trying to break it down. “Just do it. Now.” He leaned towards the cowering Italian, holding a knife to his neck. Feliciano took a shaky breath as he reluctantly flipped over, shaking as he positioned himself on his hands and knees. “Good. Now try not to scream.”

Holding his breath, Feliciano felt Luciano come up behind him. The other’s private parts were rubbing against his butt as his shoulders were gripped from behind. Feliciano’s teary eyes widened, now shaking his head vigorously, “No… Please, don’t!”

He yelped loudly, tearing up more as he felt a sudden sharp, stinging pain in his backside. But Luciano never got the chance to truly enjoy violating his counterpart. The door immediately gave way as it was broken down, falling to the ground. Lutz stepped over the fallen door, followed by Kuro who was roughly dragging along Arthur. Feliciano took the chance while Luciano wasn’t focused on him and had let go of his shoulders, to turn back around, moving his behind away from Luciano and sat so that he hugged his knees. The experience had been painful, but much too quick for him to really bother dwelling on it, and after all, he definitely wasn’t a virgin in the first place either.

Looking up at the doorframe, it was then that Feliciano finally noticed the state Arthur was in. He looked absolutely horrible. Feliciano’s eyes widened as he saw the multiple marks and bruises, the cuts that were still freshly bleeding and some as if they’d been inflicted a little earlier too. Arthur looked like he was extremely weak and exhausted as well, dark circles faintly visible under his eyes. He didn’t fight against Kuro.

Feliciano was silently wondering what happened to him, staring at him in concern while Luciano just scowled, turning towards the other 2Ps. “What do _you_ want?”

Lutz said nothing as he stepped forward, pulling out handcuffs and restraining Luciano to the bed despite his protests. The German looked back to Arthur, “You said you’ve found the spell.”

“Y-Yes…” Arthur said quietly, nodding.

With a harsh kick from Kuro, Arthur fell forward onto the ground, groaning. Kuro smirked, pulling out his camera and snapping a picture of Feliciano and Luciano and their exposed bodies, “What a shame you didn’t go further. You two still made some hot material anyway.”

“You fucking bastards! Let me go!” Luciano spat, struggling against the handcuffs.

Lutz yawned beside him. “I’m too lazy to. Now do the spell, Arthur.”

“This better work, or else…” Kuro walked over and grabbed Feliciano by his shirt collar, lifting him up and holding his katana up to the scared man’s throat.

Arthur slowly dragged himself off of the floor to raise up his hands and begin chanting magical phrases Feliciano couldn’t understand. He looked toward Luciano to see what Arthur was doing to him and saw that his counterpart gasped and was contorting against the handcuffs, seeming to be in pain. Feliciano looked curiously at Kuro, “What’s he doing to him...?”

“Fixing him.” Kuro answered, Arthur’s words beginning to sound like they were speeding up as Luciano’s cries of pain were heard in the background. Feliciano cringed at the sound. “We only let you come here as a distraction. Ever since he came back from that witch's basement, he was never the same.” Kuro lowered his katana, making Feliciano breath in slight relief.

He tilted his head; Kuro’s explanation sounded like what he’d been theorizing with Luciano’s peculiar behaviour, “What do you mean?”

“For one thing, the only thing that was on his mind was you.” Lutz spoke up, lifting his hat that was covering his eyes to give a cold stare at Feliciano’s direction, “He would send us out to not just kill others but to gain intelligence on your whereabouts and actions. He never cared about that and he won't again.”

With a strange sense of relief, Feliciano was happy about that. At least now Luciano wouldn’t be so crazily obsessed with him anymore.

Luciano suddenly screamed out in agony, to which Feliciano quickly looked at him only to see a blinding flash of green light expanding to the corners of the bedroom. Once the light began to die out, Arthur slumped to the ground, unconscious, while Luciano seemed to be in the same state on the bed.

“Did it work?” Kuro asked, stepping on Arthur as he made his way towards Luciano. Feliciano grimaced; that had to have hurt if he were awake. Kuro extended his hand, bringing it down hand against the side of Luciano’s face with a loud slap.

Luciano’s eyes snapped open as he awoke and stared daggers at Kuro, shouting at him, “Che cazzo!? Why the fuck would you do that!? Give me one good fucking reason why I shouldn’t skin you alive and turn you into pasta sauce!”

“That still isn’t enough information.” Lutz said. He grabbed Feliciano, picking him up as if he didn’t weigh as much pasta as he ate with how little he trained, and threw his half naked body onto Luciano.

He landed with a grunt and stared into Luciano’s fuchsia eyes, hoping the spell really _had_ fixed him, otherwise he was scared he would get molested again. To his relief, Luciano just glared at him in annoyance, “Get him the fuck off of me! And… Why the fuck are we naked?” The 2P scowled, looking around and trying to figure out his surroundings.

“He’s back.” Kuro said.

Quickly, Feliciano scrambled to get off of Luciano. He stood awkwardly, mumbling, “S-So… Uh… C-Can I have the cure for the poison now?”

Luciano raised a brow, “What poison?”

“You… Well, Luise and Luddy were poisoned…” Feliciano looked away.

“How?” Luciano asked, then shouted, “And can _someone_ unchain me!? And get us some clothes…”

By now, it was evident to Feliciano that Luciano had no memory of the events that happened before. He frowned a little, looking to Lutz for aid, “Should I tell him…?”

Lutz shrugged, “I don’t really care.” He picked up the two’s clothes from the floor, tossing it to them. Kuro came by and unchained Luciano from the bed. The Italian rubbed his wrists once he was freed and began putting back on his clothes, as did Feliciano.

“W-Well… Uh… You kind of poisoned them…” Feliciano said, standing up and slipping on his pants.

“How exactly? There’s different poisons I use for different means of… Delivery.” Luciano said, zipping up his fly.

Feliciano put back on his jacket, frowning a bit, “Germany figured out that it was belladonna, but then you said there was some other thing in there too and you wouldn’t tell us, so you told me you had the cure for it…”

“Oh, sì.” Luciano reached into his pocket, fishing out a small key, “Kuro, Lutz, go now or I stab you, got it?”

Kuro left the room, grumbling, while Lutz followed behind.

Once they left, Feliciano turned back towards Luciano, avoiding looking him directly in the eyes. “…And you told me to come here to get it, but then you… Y-You kind of raped me…” Feliciano shivered a bit. His butt was still hurting a little, but strangely enough, he’d already felt like this many times after waking up from being under that weird potion. That meant he likely had sex multiple times by now, so he thought was probably useless to mope about Luciano sticking it in for a few seconds, although the thought still made him extremely uncomfortable.

“What!?” Luciano stared at him, slightly shocked, before frowning, “Oh. I-I did?”

“S-Sì…” Feliciano nodded slowly.

“Never. Speak. Of. It. Again.” Luciano walked to a drawer in his room and turned the key in the lock. He pulled out a bottle, holding it up, “Ah, here we are. Now how much belladonna did each receive?”

“I don’t know. Luise drank some from a beer bottle, and then Ludwig just got hit by a dart…” Feliciano recalled.

Luciano smirked, “If they weren’t nations, they’d be dead by now.” He resumed searching in the drawer for another bottle while Feliciano felt a cold shiver up his spine, whimpering softly.

After a short silence between them, the clinking of bottles sounding, Feliciano mumbled softly, “…And that wasn’t the first time you tried to rape me…”

Luciano almost dropped the bottle he was holding, “ _What!?_ ”

Feliciano flinched a bit, “S-Sì… Back in that basement, you were trying to…” He trailed off.

“Well, tough luck.” Luciano turned his back to Feliciano coldly, looking into the drawer again. Finally, he pulled out a bottle, holding it towards Feliciano. The label read _Calabar bean physostigmine. Poisonous._ “Here it is.”

Feliciano blinked, tilting his head in a confused manner, “Why does it say poisonous?”

“You need a poison to cure a poison.” Luciano grinned.

“What am I supposed to do with it, then?” Feliciano asked.

“Well, the poison Monika ingested was about as much as an entire leaf of belladonna, so you have to give her four times as much of physostigmine. Ludwig… I suggest giving him a little less. If you go over the treatment, however, you’ll kill them.” Luciano smirked, “And if it works, they’ll be hallucinating for a few days.”

Well then, that didn’t sound like a good thing. However, Feliciano knew, or at least he was naively trusting Luciano enough to believe he was telling the truth, that it would cure them of the poison, so he nodded slowly, “Okay…”

“Oh, and they'll have amnesia for a few more days with considerable suffering. Since they're countries, there shouldn't be any… _Side effects_ …” Luciano smirked, handing over the bottle to his counterpart, “By the way, I must have been bluffing about the secret ingredient. If you do want them to recover fully, however, I think the hospital would be a good idea…”

Feliciano sighed in relief, “Okay… Grazie.” Gladly, he took the bottle, eager to finally get out of this place and fix his friends when he felt a slight stinging in his posterior. He frowned a bit, shifting uncomfortably, “Ah… Do you know if eating pasta will make my butt stop hurting?”

Luciano’s eyes widened, “Why does it…? Never mind.”

“Remember? I said that you… Y-You kind of did… Just a little while ago, so that’s why it hurts…” Feliciano looked away, “So does that mean pasta won’t fix it, then?”

“No.” Luciano smirked, “But I could help you ignore the pain by making you some pasta sauce…”

Feliciano shivered. The old Luciano was definitely back, and he wasn’t too sure he liked it anymore, “No thanks… Uh, what about gelato, then? Will gelato work?”

“Gelato sauce…” Luciano smiled sadistically, gripping the handle of one of his knives in his knife holsters.

The air started to feel tense again. Feliciano nervously took a step back, “What do you mean by that?”

“I could make you something to put over your gelato.” Luciano held up the knife as he stepped closer, “Sì, I’ll make you some…” With a crazed grin, he lunged forward at Feliciano, who squeaked and side-stepped to get out of the way. He turned around, running for the open door so he could escape. Unfortunately, Luciano managed to get to it first, seeing what Feliciano was trying to do and closed the door, locking it once again. “Now, where was I?”

Feliciano trembled a bit. That very phrase was the one Luciano had said when he was still so madly obsessed with Feliciano for some odd reason. “A-Are you trying to rape me again?” He asked shakily, backing into the middle of the room and clutching tightly onto the bottle he was given.

“No, I’m trying to get pasta sauce.” Luciano said plainly, striding towards him and swung his blade at him, to which, Feliciano barely evaded.

“W-Why can’t you buy some at the grocery store?” Feliciano whimpered, continuing to back away slowly.

“They don’t sell a certain… _Ingredient_. And I like to get it fresh.” Luciano took out a second knife with his other hand, now trying to stab him with two weapons. Out of reflex, Feliciano shot his foot up to kick the knives away, only for Luciano to take out another one and slice at Feliciano’s arm. He gasped, hissing in pain and tearing up a little as he pulled his arm away. As Feliciano ran, he knocked over a table to try to block Luciano’s path, jumping onto the bed as Luciano jumped over it and followed after his prey quickly, intending to stab him in the chest.

A small groaning sound was heard, that came from neither Feliciano nor Luciano. While Feliciano ran circles around the room, he glanced towards Arthur who had been forgotten on the ground. It seemed he was beginning to wake.

He dashed toward the wounded man, desperate for help, “E-England, help…!” He yelped as a knife was thrown at him and ducked, needing to continue running away to avoid becoming a bloody corpse, consequently leaving Arthur behind on the floor again, but not forgotten this time.

 Arthur blinked dazedly, a cut on his lips reopening as he sputtered out, “W-What?” He lay there, still on the floor, only having enough strength to watch as Feliciano was frantically running around the bedroom and being chased by his counterpart.

“Ah, I’m sure you’ll end up like him later.” Luciano smirked, running after Feliciano and throwing another knife at his target, “Come back here!”

Seeing this, Arthur weakly tried to get up to help Feliciano, but was unable to. He groaned, “It’s n-no use… We n-need to escape…”

“How?” Feliciano asked, before yelping in surprise as he suddenly was tackled by Luciano. He howled in pain as he was pinned down and stabbed in the arm, blood seeping onto his clothes once again. This time it was solely his own blood.

Luciano smirked, licking the blood off the flat side of his blade, “Mm… Delicious.” Plunging his knife down again, he tore the wound wider, causing excruciating pain for the other man if it weren’t for the adrenaline numbing the feeling. Feliciano squirmed from underneath.

“I-Italy! Hold on!” Arthur called out to him. He still sounded weary, but it must have taken him a desperate amount of willpower to want to save Feliciano and haul himself to the door, crawling.

Feliciano had to hold off Luciano. Since it worked so many times before, he decided to conduct his same fighting strategy. Although it had been ‘playing dirty’, most 2Ps weren’t known for being fair either. Ignoring the sharp sensation in his bleeding arm, Feliciano kicked at the other’s lower body before he finally pulled his knee up strongly in between Luciano’s legs and into his crotch. The fuchsia-eyed man gave a small squeak of pain as his grip on his counterpart immediately loosened, allowing Feliciano to push the man off of him, pick himself up off the ground, and run free.

“I-I’ve got the door unlocked!” Arthur yelled out after managing to make his way to the door. Immediately, Feliciano ran towards the Brit, picking him up and quickly sped out the door, escaping Luciano’s bedroom.

“Tornate qui!” Luciano shouted for them to come back and threw a knife towards them.

With a dull thud, it ended up hitting Arthur. He ignored the pain, whispering urgently to Feliciano, “Run faster!”

And he did.

Luckily, Lutz was still lazing there on the couch, not bothering to turn his head and look away from the television screen to see the Italian dashing toward the door, and Kuro was busy with all his hentai to go after him as well. The only person moving other than Feliciano, was Luciano, who was wielding one of his knives and chasing after his target. Luciano ferociously lunged at Feliciano, “You won’t be able to cure that potato bastard now!”

Feliciano yelped and narrowly managed to escape, bursting out of the front door with Arthur still in his arms. He was thankful he hadn’t closed the gate when he came in, as it was left wide open and he took the opportunity to run out as fast as he could, hoping Luciano wouldn’t chase him anymore. Feliciano ignored the burning in his legs as he ran, and the stinging of his open wound exposing to the cool night air. He had no clue how long he spent in that mansion, but he could tell the sky was a lot darker than it had been when he first came.

Arthur coughed, curling up in Feliciano’s arms, “W-Where are we going?” He asked.

Honestly, Feliciano didn’t know where he was going. He was only running to wherever his legs were taking him, his only goal being to get away from Luciano. Taking a glance down, he saw that Arthur was starting to get paler with each passing second from all the blood loss he’d endured, and Feliciano expressed his concern, “If you want, I can take you to the hospital.”

“I d-don’t bloody need a hospital…” Arthur muttered. His breathing was shallow.

Feliciano looked over his shoulder, and seeing as he wasn’t being followed, he began to slow down. He panted for breath for a few seconds before staring down at the Brit, his pace slowed down to a brisk jog instead, “Are you sure? How did you get like this in the first place?”

“T-They captured me w-when I was asleep… Those w-wankers… And I w-was forced to…” Arthur paled intensely; he almost looked as white as a sheet. With a pained groan, his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he became limp in Feliciano’s arms. Feliciano couldn’t help but feel concerned for the Brit, even if he and his cooking could be pretty scary. Panicking, he was trying to figure out what to do with him until to his relief, Arthur spoke, albeit frailly, “Italy…”

Feliciano stopped walking briefly, looking down at the man in his arms, “Yes?”

“I-If I die, tell everyone… America, Canada, oh hell, even that French frog, I love them. If I survive, d-don’t tell anyone I said this…” Arthur inhaled sharply before continuing, “A-And take me to Canada since he has free healthcare…”

Feliciano blinked, staring down at the man as he passed out, not knowing what to feel about his last, slightly odd request. Nonetheless, he figured now was the time he should start making his way to Matthew’s house once again.


	7. A Tough Decision

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, I haven't updated this in a looooong while, have I-- *cough wheeze* I'm so sorry everyone, I completely lost motivation to write this story and only recently found it again months later, so... I'm back-? At first, I wanted to write just this chapter, then announce that I was cancelling the story, but I've decided I'm going to keep writing it! ...I don't know if any old readers are still looking for updates or anything, but here it is- Here's your update, everyone.  
> *rubs hands together* Man, this is was fun to write! The next chapter's gonna be a lot more fun too!

In almost no time, or rather the fact that Feliciano had lost track of time, he soon came up to Matthew’s house. He remembered the path to the house, and even though he hadn’t taken much notice of the Canadian himself, he was starting to now.

He couldn’t deny that he was tired. Tired from all the running, and everything that had happened to him so far. Not even Ludwig’s training could have prepared him for this, but it did help somewhat. Before this, Feliciano had never thought he would able to carry an injured man on foot for so long, running all the while.

Unceremoniously, he made his way to the front door of the house, knocking on the door with his foot. He wasn’t aware of just how hard he was breathing, how his heart was pounding as he lowered his head and waited for the door to open. He hoped it would open soon.

Fortunately, it did. “O-Oh! Oh no, what happened!?” Matthew’s eyes widened in alarm once he opened the door, greeted by Feliciano carrying a wounded Arthur. “Oh, that doesn’t matter right now, does it? But just— Just come inside! Quickly!”

Feliciano gave a silent thanks that Matthew could help. He walked through the doorway with Arthur in his arms. The Brit was still unconscious, and his injuries clearly needed attention. He felt weird being in such a somber mood for so long. Sure, he had his fair share of serious moments, but it wasn’t like this was war or anything. Although in some way, it was. A personal war between him and Luciano.

He frowned, brushing off the thought. “Where do I put him?” He asked, the first thing he said upon entering the house and looking around.

“Oh, I got it. Just follow me.” Matthew said, taking Arthur from him and lifting the unconscious man over his shoulder. “You can tell me what happened on the way upstairs.”

Feliciano nodded slowly, “Okay…” He rubbed the side of his arm, only noticing the soreness he had from carrying Arthur after the weight wasn’t there anymore. He walked behind Matthew as Matthew led him up the stairs. There was a small detour to the bathroom to fetch his first aid kit.

It was a winded explanation, but Feliciano gave Matthew the gist of what had happened to Arthur. How Kuro and Lutz kidnapped him, and beat him, and forced him to work on the spell to fix Luciano. He shuddered as he explained, hugging himself as he remembered the memories of being in that place. He felt dirty along with being tired.

But that was okay, because he was safe now, right? _Right?_

“That’s horrible!” Matthew said after Feliciano’s explanation. As Feliciano spoke, the Canadian had set Arthur down on a guest bed and took off his shirt to look at the wounds underneath.

Feliciano winced when he looked down and saw more cuts and bruises on Arthur than he saw when his shirt was on. He looked back up at Matthew to ask him, “…Are you going to be okay with taking care of him by yourself? I… kind of have to go and get Luise and Luddy un-poisoned.”

“How did they get poisoned?” Matthew asked in a concerned tone, pulling the knife out of Arthur’s back and applying pressure to the wound, cleaning up the blood around it and his smaller wounds.

“It was Luciano… He used something called belladonna…” Feliciano mumbled, his gaze cast down. He didn’t want to watch Matthew and see all that blood right now. He had enough of gore for a lifetime.

“Oh! That’s really bad… I know how to cure it, though, but I need to know how much each consumed before I treat them.” Matthew said.

That got Feliciano to look back up at Matthew, something akin to surprise on his face. Could he really cure them? …Was he qualified to do that in the first place? Well, Matthew certainly looked like he knew what he was doing right now, and Feliciano trusted him a lot more than he trusted Luciano. “Luise drank some from a beer bottle, and Ludwig got hit by a dart… I don’t know exactly how much poison they got.”

“Well if you bring them to me, I can check… I’ll get some hospital equipment in the meantime.” Matthew said, looking up from his patient.

Hospital equipment? Feliciano was too tired to question that, so he simply agreed, “Okay. Should I go get them right now?”

“I don’t think you have that much time…” Matthew shook his head, “Can you please stay here and treat England while I get both Germanys and some more supplies?”

“But what am I supposed to do…?” Feliciano asked, frowning a little and tilting his head. He wasn’t nearly as trained in first aid as Matthew seemed to be.

“Just dab some of this disinfectant into his wounds and bandage that stab wound up as soon as you can, but do it with extreme care and caution. Try to wipe off some of the old blood first.” Matthew explained to him. He straightened up after hooking Arthur up to an electrocardiogram, “If he goes into critical condition, call me right away. Bye!”

“Bye.” Feliciano called out to him as he ran out the door, leaving him alone with Arthur again.

He reached into the first aid kit, getting the disinfectant— That was what he had to do first, right? No, he remembered he had to wipe the dried blood away first. Taking a cloth, he did that gently before he used the disinfectant on the wounds. Feliciano was so busy with tending to Arthur, that he didn’t notice the Brit’s eyes flickering as he regained consciousness.

“Ah… I-Italy?” Arthur croaked weakly, looking up at Feliciano.

“Yeah?” He answered, but didn’t stop what he was doing yet. Bandages. He needed bandages. Which of these in the kit were bandages again?

“Am I g-going to make it?” Arthur asked.

Feliciano hesitated a little before answering. He wasn’t quite sure, but Arthur seemed fine to him… “I think so.” He poured a little bit more of the disinfectant on a clean cloth before dabbing it on the stab wound.

“Ah! D-Does it have to hurt so much!?” Arthur hissed in pain, the expression on his face making Feliciano wince a bit himself.

“I’m sorry…” Feliciano dabbed a little more at the wound, trying to be a little gentler though it wouldn’t make much of a difference if the liquid was causing him that pain. He cleaned all of the smaller wounds once more while he was at it.

“L-Listen… Italy. Th… There’s a good chance I won’t survive this…” Arthur winced with each touch of the cloth to his skin, breathing a little harder.

“Don’t say that. At least try to be positive.” Feliciano offered a small smile, despite how much he had gone through himself. Bandages… Ah! Were these the bandages? He hoped so. They were whitish coloured and stretchy with a weird texture, and they seemed a lot like bandages to him… He picked them up and began wrapping around Arthur’s wound with it, unfortunately having to make the Brit sit up for it. It was painful listening to the wincing sounds Arthur was making.

“No. I n-need you to… Listen to… Me.” Arthur groaned, his face contorting in pain for a second. He sounded urgent. “The 2Ps… They needed… Ah…”

Feliciano turned towards the heartbeat monitor. An alarm was sounding and caught his attention, and he could tell that this was probably a bad sign. Still, he wondered what Arthur was going to say, “They needed what?”

Arthur took in a deep breath as Feliciano finished off with wrapping the bandage around his midsection, “N-Needed Luciano back because…” He gasped, his pain seeming to get worse for him as he began breathing in short, sharp breaths. He fell back onto the bed. “They… W-Were planning to…”

Seeing Arthur gasp in pain again, Feliciano figured he shouldn’t just pressure him to tell him right now. He was probably in that ‘critical condition’ Matthew was talking about, and the alarm was telling him it was a bad thing right now too. His mouth pressed into a thin line, frowning, “…Should I go call Canada now?”

“W-Who?” Arthur blinked at the question.

“…We’re in his house. I’ll go call him.” Feliciano muttered, and contacted the Canadian’s number on his phone. He hoped Matthew would pick up soon…

“Hello?” The quiet voice asked from the phone.

“Something’s beeping and I think he’s having trouble breathing…” Feliciano bluntly told him, and he could almost imagine Matthew beginning to look panicked in that way of his once he told him.

“I-I’ll be there right away!” Matthew said, and instantly ended the call.

Now that Feliciano couldn’t do anything but wait for Matthew, he hoped he could get a little more information out of Arthur if he was able to. He turned back to face Arthur, but the first thing out of the Brit’s mouth was, “Who w-was that?”

“That was Canadia…” Feliciano answered. “I think.”

“America?” Arthur tilted his head.

“No… It wasn’t him…” Feliciano was fairly sure that it wasn’t. Alfred was very different from Matthew anyways, after all… His name was Matthew, right?

“Oh… A-Anyways…” Arthur took in another gulp of air, “T-The 2Ps were planning to…” He gasped and whimpered a bit.

“What’s wrong?” Feliciano asked.

“T-The pain… H-Hurts so much…” Arthur said, his face twisting into another pained expression, “Ah, n-never mind that.”

“…What were they planning to do?” Feliciano asked, frowning.

“T-Take over the world…” He managed to say in between gasps, “I-I overheard that… You’re g-getting married?” He tried to smile at Feliciano, but failed as it looked more like a grimace.

Feliciano nodded slowly. Being reminded of his wedding with Luise was one of the things he could be happy about in this dark time. Though, he was still worried about her, seeing that she was poisoned and he was unsure if she was okay. “Sì, that’s right.”

“Th-They’re planning to d-do that… On your w-wedding day… B-But they… Needed Luciano t-to be normal so they could—” Arthur suddenly gasped, the colour draining from his face. He closed his eyes.

Feliciano’s eyes widened in concern. Sure, he wanted to know what the 2Ps were going to do, that was important, but it wasn’t as important as Arthur’s health. Or maybe it was, but the life of another person at this moment was more important than something he could just find out later. He felt helpless. The red, urgent flashing and beeping of the electrocardiogram beside him wasn’t helping either. Arthur could very well be dying and Feliciano could do nothing about it.

“O-Oh no!” Matthew quickly burst into the room. Right on time, too. He dashed towards the bed, Feliciano stepped aside to allow him to get to Arthur quicker. He watched as the blonde set down various equipment and supplies onto the bed, and watched as he injected something into Arthur, hooking him up to an IV.

“…Is he going to be okay?” Feliciano asked quietly, worried.

“I-I don’t know!” Matthew’s hands were on Arthur’s chest, doing what Feliciano assumed was probably CPR. “Italy, pass me the machine next to you!”

The Italian looked beside him, spotting an odd machine that looked pretty important. He wasn’t sure just what they were called or what they did, but he knew they were used for those television shows where the person died and you rub the paddles together and it got them alive again… Or something like that.

He grabbed the defibrillator and held it out to Matthew, who took it and activated it. “Clear!” He shouted, the loudness of his voice making Feliciano step back anyway. All the Italian could do was watch as Matthew pressed the paddles to Arthur’s chest, delivering an electric shock to him. Matthew just frowned and mumbled to himself, “Oh dear… Clear!” He repeated, and tried the procedure once more.

Glancing at the heart monitor, it seemed that Arthur’s heartbeat was going back to normal after Matthew’s help. Both Matthew and Feliciano sighed in relief.

“Is… Is he going to be okay now?” Feliciano asked.

“I-I think so…” Matthew nodded, “We should get Luise and Ludwig now.”

“Do I still have to stay with him, or do you want me to help you get Luise and Luddy?” Feliciano asked.

“Which one would you prefer? Although it would be good if someone watched over England…” Matthew said.

“Vee…” Feliciano thought about it for a second before deciding, “I can stay with him again, if you want. They’re back at the living room in Luise’s house.”

Matthew nodded, “Okay, I’ll go get them.” He said, and rushed back out the door.

Feliciano watched Matthew run out for a few seconds, watching as he disappeared down the stairs before he looked back at Arthur. He walked back a little closer to the bed, examining the Brit’s face for any sign of him waking up. Now that he was stabilized, Feliciano wanted to know what Arthur was so desperate to tell him earlier.

To Feliciano’s relief, Arthur’s face scrunched for a second as he slowly began to wake up. “A-Ah… Wh-What just happened?”

“Canada just saved your life…” Feliciano answered, “He left to go get Luise and Ludwig.”

“O-Oh… That’s… Good.” Arthur said, barely having enough energy to really look up at Feliciano.

The Italian felt bad, knowing that Arthur was in such bad shape but Feliciano was still trying to get him to tell him what the 2Ps were going to do, “…So how are they going to take over the world?”

“A-At your… Ah… W-Wedding…” Arthur started, but then his eyes began fluttering.

He knew it was on his wedding day, yes he knew that, but what _else_ was Arthur going to say? “Why do they have to do it on my wedding day?”

“E-Everyone will… be…” Arthur’s voice faded as his eyes closed.

Feliciano felt a wave of panic wash over him. No. _No._ He couldn’t lose Arthur again; he needed to know now.

“Oh, I gave him a sedative so he could rest.” Feliciano heard Matthew’s voice saying to him. He turned, looking as the blonde came in and carried the two unconscious Germans. Kumajirou was walking into the room behind him, helping him carry other supplies.

His heart sank. He tried not to look as disappointed and panicked as he felt right now, “…He was going to tell me how the 2Ps were planning to take over the world…”

“Oh… Oh, I’m so sorry…! Maple, what have I done! I’m sorry!” Matthew frowned, looking guilty and regretful. He carried Luise and Ludwig, setting them down on some hospital beds that were in the room.

“It’s okay,” Feliciano tried to smile, even though he really didn’t feel like it was okay, but he wanted Matthew to feel better since he knew that Matthew didn’t mean to, “We can just wait until he wakes up, right?”

“He needs to rest…” Tears brimmed Matthew’s eyes. Feliciano just felt worse, “And I made it so he can regenerate fully…. So he’ll be sleeping for about a week. I’m sorry…” He started examining the Germans to treat them for the poison, “I’m so sorry…”

…Oh. A week was a long time. Feliciano wanted to say it was okay, but the entire world was at risk for at least a week now, if he didn’t figure out how to stop the 2Ps sooner. Feliciano felt more alone than ever. Though… Matthew was smart. He decided maybe he should tell him what he knew so far, “…It’s okay. He managed to tell me something about how they’re planning to take over the world on my wedding day… But I still don’t know just _how_ they’re going to do it…”

“I might be able to help…” Matthew offered, just as Feliciano hoped. He put a tube in each of the German’s arms, and let the physostigmine go in. “Tell me… Who are you inviting?”

“Everyone…” Feliciano answered. He _knew_ why the 2Ps chose his wedding day, since he wanted to invite everyone, and everyone would be there. He was getting a little impatient. He just wanted to know _how_ they would sabotage his wedding. Knowing that his wedding day would be sabotaged in the first place was bad enough.

“I think I know why they chose that day, then….” Matthew said, voicing his thoughts out loud, “I think they’re planning it on that day because everyone will be there together… Easier to assassinate everyone in the confusion…”

Feliciano nodded. He knew that. “Sì, that makes sense. What should we do about it?”

“Well, I have an idea…” Matthew said, “We could tell everyone that. So then we’ll do a fake wedding to catch the 2Ps, and once we do, we can have the real wedding… But now they have Luciano back, and that’s a problem…”

“Oh…” That was true. Feliciano was stumped on how he could possibly outsmart Luciano now that his 2P was focused on taking over the world again… He probably couldn’t outsmart him anyway; he’d never be able to, and he knew that. He glanced down for a second before looking back at Luise and Ludwig, “Are they going to be okay?”

“I think so… But in the meantime… We should patch you up. You’re bleeding…” Matthew said, pointing at Feliciano’s wounds on his arms.

“Vee?” Feliciano looked down at himself. Oh. The wound was from that moment when Luciano tried to make him into pasta sauce. He hadn’t realized he was still bleeding… He didn’t notice it earlier. Now that he noticed it, he also noticed the dull stinging in his arms from the cuts. “Oh yeah…”

“Just sit here.” Matthew said, patting an empty spot on the same bed that Luise rested on. Feliciano walked towards it and took a seat while Matthew got some rubbing alcohol, “This will sting a little… How’d you get this in the first place?”

Feliciano had to close his eyes for a second, wincing as the stinging feeling intensified once Matthew dropped the alcohol onto the wound. He could only imagine how Arthur felt when he did the same to him, “Luciano stabbed me when I was at his mansion.”

“Wait… Why were you at his house, then?” Matthew asked, looking up at Feliciano for a second before he put some medication on the wound.

Along with hissing in pain, Feliciano began to explain what happened, “He told me to go there so I could cure Luise and Ludwig, and then he raped me, but then England got him back to normal, and he tried stabbing me because he said he wanted pasta sauce…”

“Oh… W-Wait, he did _what_!?” Matthew stared at Feliciano for a second before looking back down and injecting him with a pain reliever, stitching up his arm.

“He raped me… Again…” Feliciano said quietly, shifting a little uncomfortably on the bed. Couldn’t they _not_ talk about this? He didn’t want to be reminded of it, even if Luciano kind of only stuck it in for about two seconds.

“You mean he did it more than once!?” Matthew frowned, taking out a medical scanner. Kumajirou began to bandage Feliciano’s arms.

“Sì…” Feliciano nodded.

“I’m going to have to check you for… Uh… Diseases, now…” Matthew said, scanning Feliciano while the Italian tilted his head in slight confusion.

“What do you mean?”

“W-Well… Uh…” Matthew just handed him a pamphlet, looking slightly uncomfortable with having to explain this. Feliciano took a look at the pamphlet, reading over the different STDs that were listed there. He must have still looked confused, because Matthew continued on to say, “You, uh… Might have gotten one of those diseases.”

“W-What?” Feliciano blinked. He felt a little scared now, not to mention he felt dirtier as ever.

“Yeah… This will just take a moment, Feliciano.” Matthew mumbled, picking up a needle and preparing it. He swiftly pricked Feliciano on the arm with it.

He winced, “Ow… What was that for?”

“One of the few diseases you contracted. Due to you being a country, however, none of them are serious…” Matthew took the needle out, sticking a different liquid into it, “And just a few more… This won’t hurt that much, since I gave you ibuprofen.”

That wasn’t exactly comforting Feliciano, especially not when he noticed how big the needle was. But he held his breath and closed his eyes tightly as he anticipated the injection, wincing when it finally came again. He slowly began to open his eyes to look at Matthew, “…Can I have gelato after this?”

“Of course.” Matthew took the needle out, “There, disease free. I suggest you rest a bit… Your arms… I’ll go get the gelato. Wait here.”

Feliciano nodded slightly as he watched Matthew walk out, Kumajirou following behind again. He let go of the breath he had been holding and fell back onto the bed, making sure to be careful with his arms and Luise’s legs when he laid back.

“Italy…?” Feliciano had to sit up again when he heard Luise’s hoarse voice, looking over at her wide eyed. She was awake? Did that mean she was alright now?

“Huh? Are you okay?” He asked.

“W-Who… Are you?” She asked, her voice still quite raspy.

Feliciano just frowned, confused by the question when she only just called him Italy a few seconds ago, “…I’m Italy…”

“I-I…” Her eyes dilated, unfocused, “Don’t know…”

“Are you okay…?” Feliciano tried to ask again, tilting his head and frowning.

Before Luise could answer, Matthew walked into the room with a bowl of ice cream in his hand, “O-Oh! You’re awake!” He rushed toward the bed, handing the bowl to Feliciano as he tried to strap Luise down to the bed so she wouldn’t leave and hurt herself or the people around her. “I’m sorry about this…”

Luise suddenly started whimpering and crying once Matthew laid a hand on her, making Feliciano turn from his ice cream in surprise, “N-No! Please! Stop!” She shouting, yelling a few other things in German as Matthew struggled to keep her down.

“O-Oh no… The belladonna…” Matthew mumbled, pressing a hand firmly to her chest as his other hand scrambled to grab a nearby needle.

“Is she alright?” Feliciano asked, watching him.

“Belladonna causes brief amnesia and plenty of hallucinations…” Matthew explained, keeping Luise down as he quickly used the needle to sedate her. He let out a breath of relief as her body fell limp, though it unnerved Feliciano since she reminded him of a dead person, looking like that. Matthew walked to Ludwig’s bed, injecting the sedative into him too, so he wouldn’t wake up either.

 _Oh yeah…_ Feliciano thought, remembering that he already knew this. _Luciano told me that back at his house…_

“I’m sorry about this, Italy.” Matthew said, bringing Feliciano out of his thoughts. “Since they’re countries, they’ll be back. But I don’t know how long until they are. They should be dead, but the best we can hope for, for a full recovery… Is if I put them into comatose…”

Feliciano had been looking into his bowl of quickly melting ice cream as he listened. He hadn’t eaten a single spoonful yet, but as he processed Matthew’s words, he froze. _Comatose?_ “W-What?” He asked shakily, looking at Matthew.

“So when they wake up, they’ll be completely healed…” Matthew continued, “But since you’re the closest person to them, you get to decide whether they go into comatose or not.”

If there was a chance they would be completely fine once they woke up, that reassured Feliciano, but only slightly. He heard people end up never waking up again once they were in a coma. That scared him. He could even say it was scarier than having to deal with Luciano. He had to think for a bit, “…If that’s what’s best for them, then I guess it’s okay…”

“Are you sure?” Matthew asked, making him doubt his decision, “I can’t guarantee when they’ll wake up…”

Feliciano stared back into the bowl of ice cream, hesitating. He was silent for a few more seconds until he looked up with a lost expression, “I-I just want them to be alright. I don’t really know what’s best for them. They’re always the ones looking after me, not the other way around…”

“Oh… Well, comatose will take a long time, but it’s the best option…” Matthew said quietly.

“…Are there any other options?” The Italian asked, his eyebrows furrowed as he looked at Matthew.

He nodded in reply, “There are. But… This one has the least suffering, and it’s less risky.” Matthew glanced down for a second, but looked back up at Feliciano, “Well, how about I get some more supplies, and you think about what you want for them?”

“Okay…” Feliciano mumbled, not paying much attention as he was already trying to weigh those options in his head.

Matthew nodded, “If you need anything, just call me. Okay?” He offered a faint smile before he left the room, leaving Feliciano with the three unconscious bodies and a bowl of ice cream to think on.

The spoon was slowly lifted to Feliciano’s mouth, scooping up the ice cream even though it had the consistency of a thick soup now. It was still cold and creamy as he ate it, though, and he tasted the strawberries mixed in as he ate. The room was silent, other than the sound of the spoon clinking against the bowl, and the sound of soft breathing of himself and the people around him. It was depressing and dreary in this room. It was almost suffocating. But at least all that mattered was that Luise and Ludwig were both still alive… He could see their chests rising and falling slowly, their heart monitors beeping at a slow pace.

It wasn’t long before Feliciano finished his ice cream while he was in the middle of thinking. He set the bowl aside, and having nothing else to do, he thought some more. He contemplated, wondering which option was the best. Clearly, the less riskier one was better for them. He didn’t want them to suffer, but he also wanted them to be okay as soon as possible…

Feliciano’s head lowered, staring at his feet as he swung them on the edge of the bed. He was impatient at times, but he knew that wasn’t a good way to make decisions. Keeping this in mind, he was leaning towards having them put into a coma. He still didn’t like the sound of it, and he was unsure how long it would be until they managed to wake up. But it was a lot safer and he only wanted them to be okay, which the coma would guarantee… Besides, he could wait. He would wait for them. He waited long enough when it came to Holy Rome.

He didn’t know how long he sat there until he finally came to a solid decision, but he thought it must have been a long time. At least, it felt like it. It felt like it could have been hours, or days, or an eternity until he actually decided.

“W-West!” Julchen’s voice rang out. She suddenly came into the room, running up to the bed. Feliciano could only assume Matthew told her about what happened, and she came as soon as possible. She looked paler than usual, and tears were streaming down her face. Feliciano wasn’t sure if he’d seen her this disheveled before.

He wanted to offer her ice cream, but he had already finished it now.

“Wh-What happened?” She asked, turning to Feliciano, “I-I just heard… Monika… And Ludwig…”

Feliciano took a deep breath. He felt sorry for Julchen, knowing she must be feeling awful. Her little brother and sister almost died, after all. He slowly began to tell her what happened, starting with himself and Luise coming back from their date, to the poison, to Arthur, then coming to Matthew’s house. “…And the 2Ps are planning to take over the world on my wedding day too…” He said at the end of his explanation.

“That bastard!” She said, and hugged Feliciano, “Nein! Don’t worry, mein awesomeness will make sure they won’t ruin your special day.” She unsheathed her sword, and began walking towards the door, “They’ll die first.”

The Italian’s eyes widened in alarm, “Wait, we don’t even know how they’re planning to do it in the first place! And you can’t just go there by yourself, we need a plan too…” He called after her.

“Don’t worry! I’m calling Gilbert so we can kick some butt.” Julchen yelled back.

“…But are you sure you should go over there and let them know that we know about their plan…?” Feliciano frowned, furrowing his brows. He didn’t want her to go off and do something rash.

“I’ll beat them so badly with awesomeness so they won’t know what hit them!” She rushed out the door with a murderous expression, that scared Feliciano more than it reassured him, especially when she ran out screaming, “YOU’RE GOING DOWN, 2PS!”

***

That was the last he’d seen of her for at least one and a half hours by now. He could do nothing but stay with the sleeping Germans and Arthur, helplessly watching the clock as the seconds ticked by. He could admit, he was worried, and his worry increased every minute that had gone by. It felt like forever. He knew that Julchen was strong, but just her and Gilbert against the 2P Axis? He was concerned for them, hoping and praying that they would be okay.

The sound of something thudding against the stairs made him turn to the door, as the silence was broken. Someone was coming up the stairs, and it was revealed to be Matthew. He was carrying the limp bodies of Julchen and Gilbert, covered in blood and sweat. Matthew wasn’t looking so good himself, either. His eyes were red and puffy. “Italy…”

“What happened to them?” Feliciano asked, standing up from the bed.

Matthew shook his head, “I-I’ll tell you later. Quick, get some bandages!” Feliciano didn’t need to be told twice. He rushed to the first aid kit to fetch the bandages, while Matthew set the Prussians down on the hospital beds. The small Italian soon returned to give the bandages to Matthew, in time to hear him mumble, “You both should have waited…”

“…So what happened to them?” Feliciano asked, rocking back on his heels.

Matthew pointed over at Gilbert, who had blood on his forehead. It was running down his face, blood staining his clothing as well with a few visible gunshot wounds that made Feliciano wince at the sight, “I found him like this… Julchen was still fighting….”

“…And then what happened?” He asked, watching as Matthew flipped Julchen over to patch up her wounds.

The Canadian pointed at a huge gash on her back, sniffling a little. “A-And then Luciano came up behind her and… _That_ happened. S-So I dragged them both back. No one noticed.”

Feliciano nodded slowly. At least Matthew’s ‘invisibility’ was a relatively good thing… “Are they going to be okay?”

“I hope so…” Matthew mumbled, but then turned to Feliciano, “So what’s your decision?”

Oh, right. The decision he’d been mulling over for a while now. He glanced down, but he knew he was finished with thinking it over, “If it’s best for them… Then maybe we should.” He said with finality.

“Okay then.” Matthew said softly, nodding. They both didn’t need to say what was about to happen. They both knew it was painful enough, especially for Feliciano. After tending to Gilbert and Julchen’s wounds, Matthew grabbed a needle, “You can leave, if you want.”

“Alright…” Feliciano nodded, having once last glance at Luise and Ludwig before he turned and walked out the door, leaving the room. He didn’t go far, but he stood beside the door, just outside the room. His heart was beating quickly. The air was stale and he was afraid; his anticipation was making the wait seem longer than it really was, because it wasn’t even a minute until Matthew came back out to talk to Feliciano.

“Italy… They’re in comatose. I’m sorry…” He said softly.

So it was done. Just like that, the two strongest people Feliciano knew were asleep for… Who _knows_ how long? Feliciano’s mouth felt dry. “…It’s okay.” He replied, just as softly or maybe even quieter than Matthew. He knew it had to be done if he wanted them to get better anyway.

“Do you want to see them now?” Matthew asked carefully.

Feliciano nodded. He had to get a grip of himself; it wasn’t like they were dead or anything. Just asleep. “Okay.” He followed Matthew back into the room.


	8. Tea and Cupcakes

The Italian stared at the sleeping bodies, walking towards the beds with Matthew. As he walked in, he was greeted by the sounds of slow beeping from their heart monitors. He didn’t know how slow it was going, but he could tell it was definitely under what could be considered a normal heartbeat. They were barely breathing too. Luise and Ludwig’s chest rose and fell, but only slightly.

Feliciano whimpered at seeing them in this state. It was heartbreaking, seeing them like this. He wished that this didn’t have to happen, but it still did anyway.

“I have to go to Alfred’s place for a bit… Do you want to stay with them?” Matthew asked.

“…Okay.” Feliciano gave a small nod, not breaking his gaze from the two comatose Germans. His best friend and his fiancée. He looked sadly at them, standing at the foot of their beds. Julchen, Gilbert, and Arthur were still there too. Of course he was concerned for them too, but he knew that at least they weren’t in a coma right now.

He was silent, and other than the beeping of the heart monitors, the room was silent too. Matthew left without another word, closing the door with a soft click to let Feliciano have a moment of peace. He didn’t know how long he’d been standing there, quietly watching Luise and Ludwig, but he didn’t mind standing for so long.

He had been so immersed in his thoughts and the quietness, that a sudden voice that appeared out of nowhere scared him, “Oops, wrong house!” Said the feminine accented voice.

Feliciano froze. His eyes widened and he instantly remembered bad memories associated with the voice. He almost wanted to cry. He didn’t want to be alone with _her_. He spun around out of instinct, greeted by the sight of none other than Olivia Kirkland. He was too scared to speak.

“Well, I’ll just be going now…” Olivia said, about to head towards the door when she stopped, looking back at Feliciano and the beds of the injured nations, “Oh, what’s with all the blood, love?”

Feliciano looked behind him at the beds. Julchen and Gilbert were still bloodied and hurt from the fight, and their injuries were the most obvious. They were hooked up to IV bags to provide them with blood to make up for the blood they had lost from the injuries.

“Julchen and Gilbert were fighting and got hurt…” He told Olivia.

“Oh, how unfortunate…” She walked towards Gilbert’s bed.

Feliciano watched her warily as she produced some sort of bottle from thin air. Seeing her use magic wasn’t exactly the most comforting thing for him, especially not with her standing so close to him. Thankfully, she didn’t seem insane or wanting to hurt him or anything, which put him at ease for this moment. She simply pulled the tube for Gilbert’s blood out of the bag, and…

“…What are you doing?” He frowned a little, tilting his head curiously as she replaced the bag with the bottle.

“Just getting some ingredients.” Olivia put the tube back with a smile, closing the bottle, “Thank you, poppet!” There was a pink flash of light, and suddenly Gilbert’s wounds were healed. Feliciano stood there, trying to make sense of what just happened and stared at Olivia as she began skipping out the door, “Toodles!”

It wasn’t even a full minute until Olivia came back, and Feliciano was still trying to figure out what just happened. _Why_ did she heal Gilbert?

“Oh, almost forgot!” She chirped, walking towards Julchen’s bed and putting a hand on her. Another magical glow appeared and Julchen’s wounds were perfectly healed as well. Olivia smiled, stepping away from the bed, “Thanks for teaching me how to make German pastries! Goodbye!”

Feliciano’s mouth opened and closed several times as he watched her walk out the door again. He couldn’t seem to find his words, and he wasn’t much in the mood for talking anyway, considering he was still sad over Luise and Ludwig. Speaking of which, he turned back to their beds without another word, staring at their sleeping faces before Olivia’s voice interrupted him again.

“I just wondered… What are you doing here?” She asked, peeking through the doorway. He honestly could ask her the same thing.

“Because Luise and Ludwig are here…” He answered quietly, turning toward her for only a second.

She stepped into the room, walking closer to Feliciano, “Oh, why are they sleeping?”

“They’re… In a coma…” Feliciano answered, mumbling.

“That’s not good!” She gasped, “Would you like a cupcake, love?”

Feliciano shrugged. A cupcake sounded good, and he was hoping food would make him feel a little better about this. He didn’t mind that Olivia was offering one to him either, but it was more like he didn’t really care right now. “Okay.”

She smiled, whipping out a prettily coloured cupcake and handed it to Feliciano, “I’m sure you’ll love it!”

“Grazie…” He mumbled, taking a small bite out of it.

“It has some of your sweetie-pie in it!” She chirped.

Feliciano stared at her, confused, “What…?”

“Oh yes, I just took a sample of her blood and made it into a _special_ cupcake just for you!” Olivia smiled.

Feliciano paled at that. Now that he paid more attention, he could sense a slightly metallic taste in the bite he took out of the cupcake. He knew he should have seen _this_ coming, the fact that she would put blood in the cupcake, but he felt sick knowing it was Luise’s. “…But I don’t like eating blood…” He whimpered.

“Why didn’t you say so?” She took out a normal looking chocolate cupcake, “Here you go!”

Feliciano inspected it for a moment. “…Grazie.” He mumbled. He brought it closer to his face, and it smelled normal, at least. It didn’t seem like blood was mixed in, and Feliciano knew that Olivia baked normal cupcakes, so he decided to chance it. After a deep breath, he took a bite. It actually wasn’t that bad. He couldn’t taste anything in it that had the resemblance of blood, and he was rather pleased to know that.

“Aw, what happened to Mister Grumpy-pants?” She asked.

It took Feliciano a second to realize that Olivia was pointing at Arthur, who was still very much asleep from the sedative. He winced, remembering what had happened, “I think Lutz and Kuro tortured him and forced him to get Luciano back to normal…” He mumbled, and took another bite of the cupcake.

“That’s horrible!” Olivia exclaimed, putting a hand over her mouth, “Now I _know_ I won’t be part of the massacre! It’s just not polite!”

Feliciano blinked at that. “… _Massacre_?” He frowned, echoing her. Was that what the 2Ps were planning to do? Some sort of massacre at his wedding?

“Oh, nothing!” She gave a small giggle, making Feliciano more uncomfortable than he already was. She twirled around innocently, “By the way, do you like the dress Ollie made me?”

The Italian stared at her, glancing down at her bright dress with a slight frown, “…It’s nice…” He mumbled, still trying to figure out what she meant by ‘massacre’.

“Why, thank you, poppet! You’re so sweet!” She said, smiling.

Feliciano narrowed his eyes, “…What were you trying to do before you appeared here?” He asked curiously.

“Oh, I was trying to… Uh… Find the, uh… Tailor, so I could get Ollie a new suit!” Olivia began.

“Um, okay…?” Feliciano tilted his head at that. It sounded a little suspicious to him.

“But I accidentally appeared here, so… Oh, look how cute their sleeping faces are!” Olivia exclaimed, “Too bad they’ll never wake up!”

Feliciano frowned. “What…?” Why would Olivia say they would never wake up? Was she telling the truth, or was this some kind of scare tactic somehow? Because it was definitely scaring Feliciano, even though he didn’t want her to know that it was.

“Well then, I’ll just leave you here with them! Toodles!” She waved, and began to skip out of the room, “Tell them to say hello to Jeanne for me!”

Feliciano was confused for a second. It took him a moment for the name to register in his mind. ‘Jeanne.’ Jeanne d’Arc. That lady that Francis liked. The one who fought for France and burned at the stake. Feliciano frowned, following Olivia down the stairs.

Olivia didn’t seem to be stopping. In fact, it felt like she was just rubbing it in his face that they would probably die, and he could do nothing about it. She even seemed like she was enjoying this, with the Cheshire cat-like smile she had, skipping down the stairs, “Too bad you won’t have a wedding. I was going to bake the cake!”

The Italian frowned as he followed her. He was starting to get a little angry now. Normally he didn’t like getting angry so easily, but after everything that happened, death was proving to be a very touchy subject. He clenched his fist, “…I thought you said you were leaving.”

“Oh, of course! I was just wondering if you realized…” She trailed off, but then waved a hand, brushing it off, “No, never mind, love!” She disappeared without another word.

Feliciano’s eyes widened as he unclenched his fist, leaving him to wonder what she was going to say. What did she mean? Did she wonder if he realized they were going to die? He didn’t want to believe they would end up dead. After all, this coma was to heal them, right? And they would wake up someday, and everything would go back to normal and he’d be happy again…

It was only when Matthew walked in, that Feliciano realized Olivia led him towards the front door, “Oh, are you leaving now, Italy?” The blond asked him as he entered the house.

“…I guess so.” He nodded.

Feliciano actually hadn’t planned on leaving, but it must have appeared that way since he was close to the door. It wasn’t like he had anything to do here anyway, so he figured he might as well leave now.

“Okay, I’ll call you when they wake up.” Matthew said with a nod.

“Grazie. Bye…” Feliciano gave a weak smile and walked out the door. After only a few steps outside, he heard the door shut behind him. He sighed. He didn’t stop walking, but he looked up into the night sky as he made his way onto the sidewalk, wondering where to go now. Luise and Ludwig were definitely out of the question, but he didn’t want to be alone right now. Maybe he could visit his brother. It felt like forever since he’d seen him anyway.

***

As he made his way toward Lovino’s house, he pulled out the spare key, muttering a soft ‘Vee…’ as he stumbled through the door. It was nice to be somewhere familiar. He looked around. The lights were on and it smelled like something was cooking in the kitchen.

“Ciao, fratello.” Lovino said without looking to see who came in, and Feliciano managed a smile when he heard his brother’s voice. Familiarity was what he needed right now. It was comforting, and he needed comfort.

Feliciano closed the door gently behind him, walking into the kitchen. Lovino seemed to be making pizza. “Ciao…” He said in response.

“Are you okay?” Lovino raised a brow.

“…No.” Feliciano said softly, shaking his head.

The older Italian frowned and set down the pizza dough, “Sit.” He said, pulling out a chair for himself and Feliciano. As Feliciano sat, he sat down beside him, “Now why the fucking hell would you not be?”

Feliciano looked down. He took a deep breath to prepare himself to tell his brother what happened, letting the air out with a sigh. He began to explain, starting from when he got home from the date with Luise, to Luciano’s mansion, to what had happened at Matthew’s house. It was only when a few drops of tears fell onto his lap that he realized he was crying.

“Fratello…” Lovino’s expression softened. He may have had a harsh tongue and pushed Feliciano away most of the time, but he really did care about his little brother. At the end of the explanation, Lovino pulled Feliciano into a hug, stroking his hair, “I… I never thought I’d see the day I’d care about those potato eaters…”

“I hope they wake up soon…” Feliciano mumbled, nuzzling into Lovino’s shoulder as he hugged back tightly. He frowned, squirming slightly in his seat, “And my butt still hurts…”

“Uh… I don’t know how to respond to that.” Lovino frowned, but held his miserable brother closer. He wiped away Feliciano’s tears with a thumb, “Will you be okay?”

Feliciano sniffed, burying his head into Lovino’s chest, “I don’t know.”

“Wait… You said earlier that Olivia cured the other two potato eaters…” Lovino said. “So… Wouldn’t that mean she could help everyone else?”

Feliciano was silent for a few seconds. That actually made sense. He wondered why he hadn’t thought about that before. But then he frowned a little, looking down as he remembered her behaviour earlier, “Maybe, but I don’t think she’d do it so easily…”

“Why not!?” Lovino asked. The things Feliciano told him started to sink in too. “And she could turn Luciano into a cupcake while she’s at it…”

He didn’t know exactly why, but to him it felt like she wasn’t going to do it without _something_ in return. Like she couldn’t just heal them and everything would go back to normal so easily. The only way for things like that to happen seemed like it had to be the hard way. And it felt like she _wanted_ them to die, with how much she kept talking about it. But that couldn’t be true, could it?

“…I just have a feeling she might not want to…” Feliciano mumbled, shrinking back in his chair.

“Why don’t you ask her?” Lovino asked, then muttered, “And if she doesn’t want to, I’ll make her…”

“Well… She kept talking about how they were going to never wake up… And if she wanted to wake them up, wouldn’t she have done it already?” Feliciano tilted his head.

“That ragazza’s more airheaded than a balloon. I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t realize you wanted her to!” Lovino exclaimed. He had a point. Feliciano glanced down, knowing he hadn’t thought about that either.

He nodded slowly after giving it some thought, “I guess we could try asking.”

“Alright. Do you know where she went?” Lovino asked.

Feliciano frowned, shaking his head, “No, she just disappeared…”

“Then we deal with the other matter first… Putting a bullet in Luciano’s head.” Lovino said, getting up. He picked up a machine gun he kept by the wall, “No one fucks my fratellino and gets away with it.”

The younger sibling stared at Lovino, eyes widening in alarm and worry. He remembered the last time he’d gone there himself, and what happened to Gilbert and Julchen when they tried to go there too, “I don’t think it’s a good idea to go over there, though…”

“Why not?” Lovino asked, storing guns and ammunition into his jacket.

Feliciano stood up from his chair, wanting to stop him. “Gilbert and Julchen already tried going there, and they got hurt. I don’t want you to get hurt too.”

“Well I’m bringing guns.” Lovino took out a rocket launcher, “And this.”

“But still…” Feliciano frowned, unconvinced that his brother would be fine even if he brought so many weapons along. “I don’t want you to go over there…” He said quietly, before pausing for a second and sighing afterwards.

Maybe it was useless to try to convince his brother to stop. As badly as he wanted to grab Lovino and stop him from loading his guns, stop him from going to the 2P Axis, he had a feeling he wouldn’t be able to. He knew his brother was stubborn, so maybe he wouldn’t be able to convince him. Unless…

“Fine. If you really are going, then I’m going with you.” Feliciano said.

Putting himself in danger too might be enough. He was desperate, he couldn’t deny that. He didn’t care at this point, if it changed Lovino’s mind or not, but he would still go with him if it didn’t work. He just wanted to make sure his brother was safe. At least he would be there for him this time. It hurt all those other times he saw Lovino hurt and even killed. He wasn’t going to let the same thing happen again, especially not after what happened with Ludwig and Luise.

“I’m not going to let you go alone.” He said, a determined look on his face. Hardened. It was very much different than all those times he’d simply give up. If this was a war between him and Luciano, this was one war he _couldn’t_ give up or back away from.

Lovino shook his head, “No, fratello. You’re staying here.”

“No, I’m going with you.” Feliciano insisted. He didn’t know what he would do if he allowed Lovino to get hurt. He knew he could take on the 2Ps. He’d already done so back in Matthew’s basement, all by himself.

Was that something to be proud of, though? He honestly wasn’t sure. He was too busy trying to tell himself that all that mattered was that Lovi was safe.

“You’ve been through enough already. You’re staying.” Lovino grabbed a briefcase and ripped the ‘explosive’ label on it. He made no effort to stop preparing to storm the 2P Axis.

Feliciano didn’t notice he was shaking a little at this point. Just because he was determined to protect his brother didn’t mean he wasn’t scared or upset. “I want to make sure you’re alright! I’m going with you. I don’t think I could stand it if… If another person I cared about got hurt too…”

Lovino stopped for a second, staring at Feliciano. For a moment, neither of the two said anything, until Lovino spoke again, “You’re right… What the hell am I doing?”

Feliciano blinked. Did that actually work? Had he finally convinced his brother not to go? “…A-Are you still going over there, fratello?”

“No…. I’m going to go witch hunting.” Lovino began to take out all the weaponry he’d been hoarding, setting down his guns, “And I’ll do it with style.”

The younger brother was relieved that Lovino wasn’t going to go, but now he was a little confused. What was he going to do if he wasn’t going to Luciano’s? He cocked his head to the side, “What do you mean?”

“I’m going to buy a cupcake…” Lovino said.

Feliciano realized what he meant now. Lovino was calling Olivia a witch. He frowned, “I’m still going to go with you, then.” He said, even though Olivia freaked him out.

Lovino nodded, “Fine. She’s not harmful… I think.”

Feliciano just shivered, remembering back on all the times she hurt him and tried to hurt him, “She can be harmful…” He mumbled. But then he remembered those few times she also helped him. Feeling a little guilty, he added, “Sometimes…”

“Okay then…” Lovino picked up one of the guns he’d taken out of his jacket, slipping it back in. “Andiamo.”

***

“‘ _Kirkland Cupcakes and Tea_.’” The sign read in a large flowing print, coloured with bright pinks and neon blues. “That explains food products that doesn’t kill people out of bad taste.” Lovino muttered.

Feliciano winced; the poor colour choice was such an eyesore to him. The pink walls with that blue trim and lace definitely did not go well together, even if those colours were meant to complement each other. Sniffing the air a bit, he froze when he smelled the scent of frosting. That didn’t bring him any pleasant memories.

“Is she here?” Feliciano asked.

“The bakery is designed bright pink and blue with lace. Of course she is!” Lovino said, walking inside.

Feliciano frowned as he followed his brother, “I meant ‘is she here right now’…”

“She should be…” Lovino got into the lineup with Feliciano. Staring at the cupcakes on display behind the glass counter, he pointed them out, “Wow, I have to admit, they do look good.”

“I guess so.” Feliciano nodded, looking over at the cupcakes. If only he was still oblivious to what Olivia did for her cupcakes, he most likely would have found them appetizing. They didn’t make him hungry, that much was true, but even he had to admit he was impressed with the craftsmanship of the baked goods. The cupcakes were decorated in bright frosting, with cutesy little bear designs etched onto perfectly placed icing swirls. Each cupcake was like a work of art.

However much he appreciated art, though, he was still uneasy with setting foot in Olivia’s bakery again.

He jumped when he heard the voice of Oliver, looking up to see the Brit standing behind the counter as he pulled the brothers away from their cupcake staring, “Hello, poppets! What would you like to order?”

“Actually, we were looking for Olivia. Do you know where she is?” Feliciano asked, composing himself.

“Oh, of course! She’s in the back making more cupcakes!” Oliver said, “Would you like me to go get her?”

Feliciano nodded, but still felt a little stiff. It was so hard to relax in the bakery, even with his brother here. He could only hope he’d calm down soon, “Sì, grazie, that would be nice of you.”

“I’ll go get her in a jiffy!” Oliver chirped, grinning at the Italians before disappearing into the kitchen to go fetch Olivia.

Feliciano had been rocking back and forth on his heels as he waited nervously. It wasn’t long until Oliver came back, but Feliciano was disappointed to see Olivia wasn’t with him.

“You’ll just have to wait until she’s done with the cupcakes. In the meantime, why don’t you poppets sit down?” He suggested, gesturing over to an empty table.

The two brothers nodded, taking a seat. Feliciano stared into his lap, tapping the surface of the table with his fingers as he waited. He felt anxious. He didn’t have time for this. All he wanted was for Luise and Ludwig to get better, and each second that passed by was a second they were still in comatose. He felt sick thinking back on it.

“‘Ello, poppets!” Feliciano didn’t think he could be so happy to hear Olivia’s voice. Maybe ‘happy’ was the wrong word, since she still made him uncomfortable. Rather, hearing her just got his hopes up. She came towards the table and hugged Feliciano, as the Italian sat there limply without any protest, before she moved to hug Lovino who simply pushed her away. She didn’t seem any less cheery by the rejection, though, “So you wanted to see me?”

Feliciano nodded, “Sì. We wanted to see if you could help Luise and Ludwig, since you helped Julchen and Gilbert…” He began, pushing away his bad thoughts of her to the back of his head. He needed to focus on this right now, not on _that_. The things she said before…

“Oh, this is some serious discussion! Come, follow me!” Olivia said, beckoning for them to follow her. As the brothers stood up, she led them up the stairs.

Soon enough, she brought them in front of a bright pink coloured door, taking out a key. Feliciano just felt unsettled once they got there. He had a strong feeling of déjà vu, remembering the time he’d come here with Ludwig, even though he’d technically never been here before himself. It seemed like so long ago now. He held his breath as Olivia unlocked the door, opening it to reveal the room inside. It was just as brightly coloured as he remembered from before. The room still made Feliciano cringe, but he had more important matters to tend to now.

“Come inside, dears!” Olivia said, walking through the doorway.

He stepped inside warily, his brother following behind, “Why are we here?” Feliciano asked, feeling a shiver go through himself as he tried not to be too bothered by the bright colours. That, and the fact that there was another him and Ludwig sleeping in the closet just a few feet away.

“Well, this is such an important matter that it needs tea!” She exclaimed, and patted a sofa, motioning for them to sit, “One second, loves!”

Tea. Feliciano had to wait even longer just for tea. He couldn’t believe it. He was getting impatient, but he wasn’t angry. No, instead he just wanted to burst into tears and cry. He knew he’d already cried so much since this whole thing started, but he couldn’t help feeling like this. He tried to stay strong for now. Feliciano just nodded stiffly as he and his brother sat on the couch, watching as Olivia disappeared into a white door, most likely getting the tea ready.

“Why is everything pink!? And bright blue?” Lovino shuddered, complaining as usual, “This is giving my eyes a heart attack. Everything else is white and lacy with hearts all over. I think I’m going to be sick…”

“I’m sure you’ll be fine, fratello.” Feliciano mumbled. He could understand the feeling; these Brits _really_ needed an interior decorator. Heck, if none of these horrible things happened, Feliciano himself would have probably offered to help. But they were here to ask for Olivia’s help and nothing else. That was what was important right now.

Leaving Feliciano alone with his thoughts was a bad idea. He didn’t want to keep waiting, and every time he tried to daydream to pass the time, he only ended up thinking about Luise and Ludwig. He wondered how they were doing. If they were going to be okay, and if Olivia could help them. Those thoughts only got him more worried about the two of them.

He winced. Daydreaming and losing himself in his thoughts were one of the things he did best, so it was terrible when he realized it was only causing him pain now. He used to be able to be so carefree about this, like when he’d daydream during Ludwig’s training… Before he was poisoned and put into a coma… And…

“Sorry for keeping you waiting!” Olivia’s cheerful voice pulled Feliciano out of his thoughts. She had a plate with three teacups and three cupcakes. She set it on the coffee table, sitting on the opposite couch from the Italians. As she handed them their tea, she asked, “So, what did you want to discuss?”

“We wanted to ask if you could help Luise and Ludwig, like the way you helped Julchen and Gilbert.” Feliciano reminded her, staring into his cup of tea.

“Oh, that! Well, it’s a bit more complicated than you think…” Olivia said, taking a bite out of one of the cupcakes she picked for herself, “Would you like one, poppet?” She offered, holding the plate of cupcakes toward Feliciano and Lovino.

“…Okay.” Feliciano nodded, taking a cupcake as Lovino took the other one.

He just hoped there wasn’t blood or anything in this one. Lovino didn’t seem to have the same worries, seeing as he went straight to eating his own. Feliciano assumed that the cupcake was alright after watching his brother eat for a few more seconds, so he cautiously brought the treat up to his mouth to taste it.

“Well, I trust Julchen and Gilbert are doing better, yes?” She asked, sipping her tea.

“I think so…” Feliciano nodded. He was relieved when he didn’t taste that distinct metallic taste in the cupcakes.

“So what exactly do you want, love? And is the cupcake good?” Olivia asked.

“Sì, it is.” He said, nodding again, “And we just want to know if you can help Luise and Luddy…”

“Well… How exactly do you want me to help them? Magic has to be very precise.” She said.

“Can you get them out of their coma?” He asked.

Olivia smiled slightly, “Isn’t their coma for healing?”

Feliciano frowned. “…Then can you heal them _and_ get them out of their coma too?”

“What needs healing? They looked perfectly fine to me… Just sleeping.” Olivia said.

“They need healing from the poison.” He said quickly, hoping that she would just help him already.

She gasped, “They were poisoned! How unfortunate…”

“Sì… Luciano poisoned them with belladonna.” He said. He didn’t understand what she was getting from dragging this out for so long. Why couldn’t she just help him now that he told her what he wanted?

“Oh, that’s so mean! Why would he do that!?” She asked, sipping her tea again.

“…Well, he needed me to go over to his house to get the cure for them…” Feliciano said, frowning as he remembered that particular moment.

“Why did he want you to come to his house?” She asked.

Feliciano paled when she asked that, but before he could say anything about it, Lovino cut in, “You don’t need to know!”

“Rude, much!” Olivia frowned in response, looking over at Lovino.

“…You really don’t need to know why, though. It’s… Not important.” Feliciano mumbled quietly, avoiding eye contact. He didn’t feel like having to explain it all again right after he told his brother.

“Oh… You don’t want to talk about it, then? Very well… Continue.” She said.

“…Then after what happened in there, I got England over to Canadia's house and he also brought Luddy and Luise there and treated them for the poison.” Feliciano explained, and nibbled more on the cupcake.

“Huh, you mean Mister Grumpy-pants?” She asked, sipping her tea, “So, if the two of them were treated for the poison, why do you need me?”

Feliciano frowned a little, “They’re still not fully healed… I want them to wake up now.”

“Well, the problem is… My magic is slightly drained.” Olivia began. Feliciano felt his heart drop when he heard that. He’d been getting his hopes up high, wanting so badly for all of this to just get better again, but now he felt hopeless. “I need to see them first to figure out how much I need to use.”

“How the fuck will you figure that out?” Lovino asked, frowning.

Olivia instantly glared at him. Her glare was scary, in fact, Feliciano thought that any expression of hers was scary. Even when she was smiling, it scared him. It felt like her eyes were burning into his soul even though she wasn’t directly looking at him.

“Swear jar! Now!” She yelled, pointing at an open glass jar on the coffee table.

She and Oliver _hated_ it when people cursed, so they made whoever swore in their presence pay money into the swear jar as atonement. Other than the cupcakes and cheerful disposition, they were rather famous for the swear jar as well. It already had some money in it, likely from some of the 2Ps they spent time around.

Lovino simply huffed, but put some money in without further protest. Not even he could refuse to pay, as tough as he acted at times.

“Thank you, poppet.” Olivia smiled, pleased.

“…I can try to take you to them, if you want.” Feliciano offered, wanting to steer the conversation back on topic. Maybe if he took her to them, she might still have enough magic. He could only hope for the best.

“That would be splendid! But I need someone to help Ollie run our bakery while I’m gone…” Olivia frowned slightly. “Someone who’s a good cook, hopefully.”

Feliciano’s eyes lit up. He looked over to his brother, looking hopeful as he stared at Lovino with large eyes that silently pleaded for him to get the idea. His brother was in the middle of eating a cupcake when he noticed the puppy dog look Feliciano was giving him, realizing what he wanted. He almost choked on the cupcake for a second and looked back and forth at Olivia and Feliciano. “… _Me_!?”

“Well, why not?” Feliciano asked, before pouting a little sadly, “What, you don’t want to do it…?”

There was a long silence before Lovino gave a heavy sigh and mumbled, “Fine. I’ll do it. But only for you, fratello!”

“Grazie!” Feliciano smiled, grateful. This might have been the happiest he’d been from everything he’d gone through since Luciano’s mansion. He was in such a good mood now, that having to accompany Olivia didn’t seem so bad anymore either. Speaking of which, he turned towards her, “So, let’s go to Canada’s house, then?”

“Oh, but Romano! You need a uniform!” She chirped, springing up from the couch, “One second!”

“Oh merda…” Lovino mumbled, seeming less than thrilled at the idea of having to wear a uniform. He just hoped it wasn’t as bright and jarring as the Brits’ décor.

Feliciano stared in disbelief as she ran out of the room again. Sinking into the couch, he set his cupcake and teacup on the table. He didn’t think he could take any more of these setbacks; he just wanted to get back to Luise and Ludwig as soon as possible.

Olivia ran back soon enough, to Feliciano’s relief, “I’m sorry, Romano, love. Ollie’s all out of suits since they’re in dry-cleaning, so you’ll have to wear something else.” She said, grabbing Lovino and pulling him off the couch to drag him into a room, “Now change, please.”

Lovino could be heard yelling from inside the room, and Feliciano could only imagine what Olivia made him wear. He felt sorry for his brother now. “…Fratello, are you okay in there?” He cautiously asked, making no move to get off the couch he was sitting on to actually check on his brother.

There wasn’t much response, other than the yelling and complaining from the other side of the door. When he finally came out, he looked extremely disgruntled. That wasn’t the first thing Feliciano noticed, though. What Feliciano noticed first was definitely Lovino’s attire. He was wearing a sailor shirt with a bright pink bow on it, along with a blue miniskirt. Surprisingly, the older brother actually had the legs for it.

“ _WHY!?_ ” Lovino yelled, glaring.

“Aw, you look so cute, poppet!” Olivia cooed, grinning at him, “Now go help Ollie with the shop!”

“This skirt is tiny!” He scowled, complaining as he gestured to the skirt he was wearing. “Fratello, why why _why_? I don’t want to wear this!”

Feliciano winced a little. He did feel bad for making Lovino do this for him, but he also really wanted to leave. Right now. Olivia piped in with a suggestion, saving Feliciano from saying anything, “Well how about a French maid dress?” She asked.

“No!” Lovino shouted.

“…Why can’t he just wear normal clothes?” Feliciano asked, looking over at Olivia with a slight frown.

“Because he needs a uniform!” Olivia explained. She took Lovino, pushed him out the door leading down the stairs, and called out to him before shutting the door, “I’ll pay you later!” She turned back to Feliciano with a smile, “Now, let’s go to… Um… Canadia’s place!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jfc I've been trying to actually find the motivation to sit down and write this chapter for so long, I swear-- It's a little shorter than I would have wanted but a lot of shit happens in the next chapter, so I figured this would be a good place to stop, maybe have a bit of comic relief or smth close to the end of the chapter before it gets back into hot water haha :')


	9. What Was Lost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back!!!! I kept putting this off I'm so sorry lmao-  
> a bunch of shit happens this chapter and it's gonna reach the climax pretty much in the next one lol :')  
> I kept wanting to write this chapter but it's been so long that I realized I have to reread the entire story again just to figure out what was going on and imo my writing was pretty cringy in some parts of it so it was painful for me to actually force myself to read it again- so while I was reading it again, I edited a couple chapters before I started writing this chapter btw

With a wave of her hand, Olivia and Feliciano were both transported to the front steps of Matthew’s house in only a second. Magic still confused him. He wasn’t quite a big fan of it at the moment, but at least it got them over to Matthew’s place quickly. At least Olivia could help him this quickly.

Feliciano was still a little disoriented from the sudden teleporting, not being used to it, so Olivia went ahead and knocked on the door for him.

As it opened, she chirped “’Ello, poppet!”

“Oh, hello.” Matthew said, smiling softly at the sight of his two visitors.

“Ciao.” Feliciano smiled back, his dizziness starting to go away slightly, “Can we come in and see Ludwig and Luise?”

“Of course.” He nodded, and opened up the door to allow the two in.

Olivia chirped a thank you as she walked in with Feliciano, who guided her up the stairs and back into the room where the injured nations lay. “They’re over here…” Feliciano pointed to their beds, “Do you think you have enough magic to help them?”

He held his breath a little as he waited for Olivia to finish inspecting them. He hoped her answer was yes. It still hurt to see them lying there, and he didn’t know what he would do if she couldn’t help them at all. Would he cry out in frustration, or sob so much that he’d cause a flood? He felt he was soon reaching his breaking point, and he really did not want that to happen.

“Hm… He seems to have an extra strong dose.” Olivia said, her hand placed on Ludwig’s forehead. She moved onto Luise, “Oh, what’s this?”

Feliciano looked up at that, surprised, “What?”

Olivia looked back at him, “There seems to be more than one life here, poppet!”

More than one life. That could only mean… “So… We _are_ having a _bambino_ , then?” The corners of Feliciano’s mouth pulled up into a small smile. Because of everything that happened so far, smiling now felt strange to him. Thinking about that made him sad, but thinking about the possibility of having a child with Luise made it all okay.

“I’m afraid not for long…” Olivia said.

There it was. Instantly his smile faded. Of course something would happen to ruin his happiness. He didn’t like thinking that way, but it was hard not to. Normally, he was an optimistic and cheerful guy, but nothing about these past few days have been normal at all. It was always one disaster after another, mostly caused by Luciano.

“…What do you mean?” He asked, frowning.

“In this state, the poor thing won’t survive. It needs extra nutrients in order to grow, and Monika won’t get much now….” Olivia said, frowning a little too.

“What do we do?” Feliciano asked, worriedly.

“Well… Who do you want to live?” Olivia asked him, and his mood dropped further than it already had.

His mouth felt dry again, “W-What?” He croaked.

“Well… If you want me to save both of them, the baby has to die. If I take the energy of Ludwig, I’ll have enough to save Monika and the child…” Olivia explained, “So, which one?”

Feliciano stood in disbelief. He couldn’t make that decision. It was hard enough for him to decide that he wanted them to be in comatose after the treatment for the poison, but to decide which of the three should _die_?

“But… But I want to save all of them…” Feliciano said weakly.

Olivia shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“There’s not enough life force to go around. Magic is just channeling energy and transforming it into something else, so I need some to wake them up… But I don’t have enough.” Olivia said.

Disappointed, Feliciano knew he had no choice but to make a decision. He took a moment to think about the pros and cons but was starting to draw blanks. He couldn’t decide. He just wanted everyone to be saved.

As Feliciano was left to ponder over the ‘better’ choice, Olivia walked up to Luise and put a hand on the woman’s stomach, “Hm… The child doesn’t have much life force yet. It would only speed up the recovery of your friends. They would wake up in a month or two… But if I take Ludwig’s life force, it’ll be enough to wake Luise immediately and save the baby… So what’s your decision?”

“B-But I can’t choose! I still don’t want any of them to die…” Feliciano whimpered softly.

“I have an idea…” Matthew said, walking into the room. He had been standing outside, overhearing their conversation. He tilted his head at Feliciano’s direction. “Don’t you guys have copies?”

“How do you know about this, love?” Olivia asked the Canadian.

Matthew rubbed the side of his arm as he stood there, “I was visiting Matt and he was at your place, so I went to look for him. But I accidently went into your closet and found the two asleep in circles of magic…” He mumbled, before he walked off again.

That was right. There were still those copies of him and Ludwig back at Olivia’s place, from those timeloops that happened in the basement of this very house. It was still such an unsettling thought for him, but Feliciano was starting to feel a little hopeful again, “…So we can save all three of them now?”

“Yes, poppet.” Olivia began to grin psychotically. The hope Feliciano had been feeling earlier faded away as she took out a butcher knife, walking towards Ludwig’s bed, “Now, let’s kill your friend, shall we?” She held the knife high over Ludwig’s heart, her eyes swirling with that malicious pink.

This wasn’t what he wanted to see. He didn’t want Olivia to just _kill_ Ludwig, and right in front of him too. The thought of Ludwig dying still made him feel sick. Feliciano froze in place for a second, eyes wide, until he managed to find his words again. He stammered out, “A-Are you sure this plan will work?”

“Nope!” Olivia chirped, and suddenly thrusted the knife down. Luckily for Feliciano, he’d been standing close enough to her that he was able to stop her a second before the tip of the knife pierced into the German’s flesh.

His heart was still racing. He was so scared. He didn’t think he could stand to see Ludwig die again.

“T-Then why can’t we try something that you’re sure will work…?” He offered, shaking slightly as he moved Olivia’s hand away from Ludwig.

“Like what?” She tilted her head.

He paused. He didn’t know of any other options that could save all three lives. “I don’t know…”

“Oh well!” Olivia said, and tried to plunge her knife into Ludwig’s chest, only for Feliciano to stop her hand again.

The Italian was wracking his brain trying to come up with _some way_ that he could have all three lives safe, only to come up empty. He didn’t want to believe it, but one of them needed to die if he wanted the other two to be alive. The thought of his unborn child never getting to see the world was heartbreaking, but even more than that, he didn’t want his long-time best friend and childhood love to die. To have Ludwig suddenly leave him when he promised he’d always be there would cause him to be miserable and broken. He didn’t know what he would do if Ludwig died forever and the idea of having the copy of him didn’t work out.

“Is there something we can do that doesn’t involve killing?” Feliciano asked softly, whimpering. He still didn’t want to accept the only clear choice he had.

“Nope! But…” Olivia turned to Feliciano with a crazy grin, still wielding her knife, “I know how you can save all three!”

Feliciano wanted to save them all, but now he had a bad feeling about this. He wasn’t sure he wanted to hear Olivia’s suggestion, but he asked anyway. “…How?”

She pointed her knife at Feliciano’s heart. “You.”

“W-What?” He could do nothing but whimper, almost frozen even though he knew something like this was coming. He didn’t want to die either.

“Why not?” Olivia smiled, and then rushed toward him with the knife.

Couldn’t he have just one day, one _minute_ , without a 2P trying to kill him for once? His reflexes had gotten much sharper since the first incident that started all of this in the first place, and he quickly evaded the attack, knocking the knife out of her hands with a swift kick.

Despite his brave accomplishment with knocking the knife away, he found himself whimpering, afraid again, “…If I die for them, they would be really sad. And so would fratello, and other people…”

“Oh… Hm… Then the baby will have to go.” Seeing as Feliciano wasn’t stopping her, Olivia took that to mean he was okay with killing the baby to save Luise and Ludwig. He wasn’t exactly okay with it, but he did kind of prefer it more than killing Ludwig. The pink had faded from her eyes, and she walked up to Luise, putting a hand on the woman’s stomach. She began to mumble some spells, but then spoke after a bit, before she resumed her chanting again, “I can have the baby removed after the life is gone, if you want.”

“…Okay…” Feliciano mumbled dejectedly. He still wished he could have saved his child, but it happened to mortal couples too, when they had miscarriages. He could pretend Luise just miscarried, and then try again. Maybe once they were actually ready for a child, and after they finally got married, too. This probably was the better option rather than having his best friend being killed.

Olivia’s eyes flashed pink with magic as she removed her hand, turning back towards Feliciano, “Okay, it’s done. They’ll see you in a few months! By the way… I found out what she would have looked like. Goodbye!” And with those cryptic words, she started to skip out the door, humming.

For a moment, Feliciano was confused. He stopped her. “Wait! What do you mean you found out what she would have looked like…?”

“Well… When her life force entered mine, I had a brief glance at a memory she would have had. Well, toodles!” Olivia said, and was about to leave again until she noticed Feliciano was just staring at her expectantly. “…Oh, do you want to see?”

The Italian nodded, and Olivia walked back to him.

She put her fingers at his temples, “Now close your eyes.”

Feliciano closed his eyes. For a brief second, he found it odd that they were open in the first place. He usually did have him closed, but ever since the recovery of his repressed memories, he’d kept them open without realizing it.

_A white mist appeared, revealing a girl in a green dress, much like the one he used to wear as a child. She ran excitedly up to her father, stumbling up the front porch steps to show him an array of different coloured flowers she collected in her dress’ apron._

_“Hallo, vater! I found these flowers for you!” She giggled happily, lifting up the apron more so her father could get a better view. “Do you like them?” The child asked, staring wide and eagerly into Feliciano’s eyes._

_There were so many types of flowers, all different colours. Clearly, the delicate flowers were carefully picked, deliberate in which flowers were chosen. All displayed such a different kind of beauty, and they were all beautiful._

_Feliciano smiled and nodded at his daughter, “Sì, I love them.”_

_She beamed, “Grazie! I made sure each of them was special, just for you! Aren’t they pretty?”_

_“They are!” He smiled again, and the girl picked the flowers out of her apron, carefully holding them by the stems._

_“Here you go!” She handed them to Feliciano, who accepted them happily._

_“Grazie!” Feliciano hugged her, holding the precious flowers in his hand, and she hugged back._

_“Ti voglio bene, vater!”_

_“Ti voglio bene anch’io~!”_

_“Ve!”_

_The white mist appeared once again, and everything began to fade to black._

“Too bad that will never happen!” Olivia piped up, not giving Feliciano the time to recover from the emotions he felt from seeing what he lost.

His eyes opened, staring blankly before focusing on Olivia again, “…H-How long do we have to wait until they wake up?”

“A month or so…” Olivia answered, then tilted her head at the poor Italian, “Are you okay?”

“I’m not sure anymore…” He looked away. If he felt deflated before, he was surely feeling worse now. Whatever that feeling was, it was definitely not an ‘okay’ feeling.

“Oh? How so?” She asked.

“Lots of things keep happening.”

“Like what?”

Feliciano shook his head, “I don’t really want to talk about it…”

“Oh, that’s alright.” Olivia said gently. She began to head back towards the door, until she stopped under the doorframe, “By the way, her name was going to be Lovina, after your sister, Chiara. And her namesake would have loved her, even though she loved potatoes. Goodbye, love. Stay smiling.” With that, she disappeared, leaving Feliciano alone.

He stayed there for a few more seconds in the silence, until he decided it was time for him to leave too. He sniffled, not even noticing that tears had been running down his face for the last couple moments he stood frozen, and simply wiped his face with his sleeve.

As he headed towards the door, there was a sudden pink flash of light behind him. He turned around, and saw a small, pink package on the floor. There was a note attached to it. Walking back, Feliciano picked up the package and looked at the note. Sure enough, it was from Olivia.

_Dear Italy poppet, I know what you’re going through is tough, so give this to your beloved when it’s time._

His eyebrows furrowed together as he wondered why Olivia would want to give him something to give to Luise. He hoped it wasn’t anything bad. These past couple days, he’d come to expect the worse, even though it was probably not such a great or nice assumption, he couldn’t help it. His optimistic side felt like it was slowly dying, but it still wanted to believe maybe it was a good thing she was giving him. After all, she had _kind of_ helped Feliciano in a couple of ways, albeit very creepily and murder-y.

He carefully opened the package, and in it was something he hadn’t expected from the 2P woman. It was an engagement ring, with a large diamond in the centre. The side of the ring sparkled with the diamonds that lined the sides, and Feliciano studied it slightly, watching it as it glistened in the light. It was beautiful. He’d been so caught up with everything that happened so far, he realized he never thought about the engagement ring he should have given Luise, even though they started planning to get married earlier. That was actually… Thoughtful, of Olivia to give him this.

Realizing this, Feliciano smiled a little, and put the ring in his pocket along with the note.

Once again, he was about to leave, until another pink flash caught his attention. He turned around, and there was a small bottle on the ground this time. A note was attached to its neck.

_P.S. Luciano was going to poison the wedding guests. Here’s the antidote, with exactly the number of drops of guests that are going to attend, poisoners and assassins excluded. Don’t lose a single drop, or you’ll lose a person._

Feliciano felt chills as he read the note. He wasn’t surprised Luciano would poison the wedding guests, but at least now he had the antidote. He hoped it was the antidote. He still wasn’t quite sure he trusted Olivia, but she’d been sort of nice lately, even though she was one of the 2Ps. Maybe she actually did want to help. Maybe she did care. Carefully, he put the bottle in his pocket, hoping he could protect the precious antidote until his wedding happened.

If she was genuinely helping him, then he was just glad that he could trust her. Grateful, even. If not, he had no way of knowing. So he still decided to trust her anyway, even though she was still scary to him.

He hadn’t even turned to leave yet when a third flash of light appeared. With it, a dagger appeared with a note like the other gifts from Olivia.

_P.P.S. This dagger has magical properties. If you kill someone with it, you can revive another. If the person you want to save isn’t dead, it can cure up to three people who are sleeping… Good luck, poppet!_

Unlike the other gifts, he was less than thrilled to be given a weapon. Feliciano stared at it for a long time before hesitantly deciding to take it with him. He wasn’t going to use it, of course. At least, he hoped he wouldn’t have to use it. No one was dead at the moment. He didn’t want to kill people. …But just in case.

He would have waited around cautiously to see if any more ‘gifts’ appeared from Olivia, but Matthew’s voice suddenly pulled him from his thoughts.

“She’s really creepy, eh?”

Feliciano was staring at the ground, his back facing Matthew. He decided to turn around and simply nod, “Sì.”

“So what are you going to do now?” Matthew asked.

“…I think I should go back to my fratello. Bye, Canadia.” Feliciano said, brushing past the blond to walk out the door.

With a small wave, Matthew replied, “Goodbye… And it’s Canada…”

***

The eyesore of a bakery was in his sights. He was glad it wasn’t that far away from Matthew’s house; just a few blocks of walking.

But he still felt incredibly weary from the travelling. Maybe it had something to do with the things he carried with him weighing him down. They weren’t physically heavy, but thinking about what he had to do with the poison’s antidote, and that dagger, especially…

Slowly, he opened the door, holding said dagger with his other hand. It was close by his side, pointing down so it wouldn’t hurt anyone, much like how a chef carried a knife while walking around.

The bakery’s patrons hadn’t noticed that Feliciano was carrying a weapon in plain sight. He had nowhere to put it. If anything, they would have noticed him more for all his injuries. But he paid no mind to them. At least he found his brother quickly, spotting the bright outfit he was wearing as he ran around serving cupcakes to customers.

Seeing Feliciano, Lovino walked towards him, “Can I take this dress off now?”

Feliciano stifled a chuckle daring to escape his lips as he nodded, “Sì, you can.”

Didn’t Olivia disappear back to her bakery a while ago? Sure, it didn’t take a long time to walk from Matthew’s house to here, but she should have already been back before Feliciano left Matthew’s house. That was plenty of time for her and Oliver to tell Lovi he didn’t have to serve customers in that silly outfit anymore. Or maybe they did that on purpose. He couldn’t blame them; Lovino looked funny in that outfit, and maybe they appreciated the extra help.

“Great.” Lovino replied, unaware of Feliciano’s thoughts on his brother’s dilemma. He dashed upstairs back to the 2P Brits’ apartment to change back into his regular clothes. He came back down, complaining loudly to his brother, “That was hell!”

“Swear jar!” Oliver said, as he urgently pointed to the jar next to the cash register.

“Fine…” Lovino grumbled, and dumped a twenty dollar bill into the jar. “So the next time I swear, I won’t have to pay you.”

“Let’s go, fratello?” Feliciano stood by the bakery’s door, ready to leave again.

“Fine with me!” Lovino answered, and he walked out with his little brother. As they walked away from the bakery, Lovino spotted the weapon in Feliciano’s hand. “Fratello, why do you have a knife?” He asked.

Feliciano looked down at his hand, where he was holding the dagger. Uncomfortable with being aware of it again, he began to explain that Olivia gave it to him, and what the note said about it. That it would save someone who died if someone else was killed in return.

Lovino frowned in that usual way of his as he looked at Feliciano. “You’re not thinking of actually killing anyone with that thing, right?”

Feliciano shook his head quickly, “I would never do that. I don’t wanna kill anyone…” He said, even though he had killed earlier before. Still, he hadn’t intended to do it anyway, and never wanted that to happen. Regardless, he felt bad for it, and it felt like the feeling of guilt would haunt him forever.

“Good.” Lovino said. His mouth opened, and he looked as if he was about to say something else, but he suddenly dropped to the floor wordlessly. It seemed he passed out.

Feliciano’s eyes widened, knowing immediately that something was wrong. A part of him automatically suspected Luciano. He tried to kneel down next to Lovino, reaching out to him to see if he was okay, but before he could touch him, a dark shadow passed over the unconscious Italian. As quick as it came, the shadow disappeared, and so did Lovino.

“Wh-Wha…?” Feliciano pulled his hand back, staring at the now empty spot. He began looking around, and unsurprisingly, found Luciano on a nearby rooftop.

“Ciao. And ciao.” He said smugly, and then disappeared just like Lovino did.

Olivia suddenly came running out of the bakery’s doors, “I just heard that Luciano is going to take a hostage! Wait… Where’s Romano?”

A feeling of dread washed over Feliciano as he put two and two together. “He disappeared…”

“Uh oh… He’s going to be sacrificed. Oh well, see you later!” Olivia began to turn around and walk away.

Honestly, with how much she did _that_ , saying cryptic things and then walking away like nothing happened, Feliciano felt like he was going to be driven crazy. He was panicked, and called out to her desperately, “Sacrifice!? What do you mean by _that_!?”

She turned back to Feliciano, “Oh, the poison Luciano wants to make is a special one. He needs a sacrifice in order for it to take…. Full effect. Toodles!”

“Wait! D-Do you know where he is and where he took mio fratello…?” Feliciano asked, frowning.

“Of course, back to his mansion.” She began to skip away, but paused and noted, “Your daughter would have died anyways.”

Feliciano’s concerned frown wiped away into a more stunned looking one as he stared at her. “What…?” What did that have to do with anything?

Olivia smiled, “Don’t worry. Luciano would have killed her afterwards on that memory I showed you. After she went to sleep that night, he slit her throat.” She skipped back to her shop without another word, leaving Feliciano sitting silently on the ground.

Feliciano didn’t know what to do with this information. Why did Luciano have to kill everyone who mattered to him? Everyone who he loved? He felt sad, but now wasn’t the right time for that. He could feel sad about that later. But right now, he had to save his brother.

He picked himself up off of the ground, and started running back towards Luciano’s mansion. …Was it just him, or was the sky different than it had been when he last noticed it? The last time he noticed it, was coincidentally also when he was going to Luciano’s house.

However, this time he was running, and his brother was in immediate danger. And the sky was slightly darker. It was as if the sun set a couple minutes ago, but hours had passed since it last looked like that. Had it really been that long since the beginning of this madness happened to him? A whole day had passed. Or at least, that’s what he assumed. It felt like it happened minutes ago, and at the same time, it felt like years since it happened. All this craziness really seemed to mess up his perception of time. He wasn’t sure how long ago all of this started anyway.

As Feliciano stepped through the gates, seeing the familiar mansion brought a wave of uneasiness over him. He shivered. He still remembered what happened the last time he was here, and he really did not want to come back at all. He wanted nothing more than to run away and never come close to Luciano’s mansion ever again, but he couldn’t.

He had to save his brother. He was one of the last people he had left; he didn’t want to lose him too.

Approaching the front door, he realized he couldn’t just ring the doorbell like last time and wait for them to open the door. He had to find a way to sneak in. He knew he snuck into Ludwig and Luise’s houses many times, all times while he was naked, but their houses weren’t dangerous. He couldn’t trust that these 2Ps wouldn’t have traps or anything to prevent other people from sneaking in. And they might anticipate that Feliciano would come for Lovino, so they might have planned something to hurt him. He whimpered at the thought.

He looked around frantically for some place where they might not be able to set a trap, but a place where he could still get in through. Although, knowing Luciano, that obviously wasn’t likely.

In his panic, he almost didn’t notice the flash of pink light that appeared behind him while he was surveying the area, but then he turned around. Floating in the air was a key card, with a note attached to it. _Olivia._

 _So you won’t set off any alarms and die._ He read the note to himself.

Even though he was grateful for the help, he was frowning. He took the key card, and slid it into the key card slot by the door, putting it into his pocket when the door unlocked. It seemed he was right in thinking the 2Ps probably would have set up traps to kill him. But maybe they weren’t meant for him, maybe they were already there and they _hadn’t_ set up things to kill specifically him? He hoped so. They probably already had alarms regardless of Feliciano coming or not, but it scared him to think there might be new ones all because of him.

The moment he stepped through the now opened door, he heard a sharp scream pierce through the air. Instantly, he felt his feet moving him towards the sound. The screams continued. It didn’t register to him that he was running, desperately trying to locate where he last heard the sounds, until he realized he was at the top of the stairs of the mansion when he had been on the first floor only seconds ago.

Once he reached the top, he heard a loud thump from a room close by.

“I thought he would never shut up.” Luciano’s voice was heard.

Hearing him, it sent a cold chill up Feliciano’s spine. Even so, he stepped forward, following the sound and peeked into the room where he heard his counterpart.

In the room, he saw Lovino’s back, wounded with strange and painful looking lines as if he received many lashings. From spotting Lutz nearby, the wounds made sense as he noticed the German was holding a whip in his hand. Kuro held a simple wooden chair, straightening up from being in an odd position as he gripped the chair’s legs. It seemed he was the one who knocked out the Italian. Luciano was flipping through the pages of a book, not bothering to look up.

Wasting no time, Feliciano ran into the room, preparing himself to fight the 2Ps by himself once again. In a flash, he put all the force his body could muster into tackling the nearest person to the ground, which happened to be Lutz.

Wrestling him on the ground, he struggled to pry the whip from his hands. He slammed his knee hard into the 2P’s gut, and as Lutz grunted in pain, his grip loosened slightly. Feliciano took the opportunity to snatch the whip away and toss it out the door of the room, away from Lutz.

Luciano pointed at Kuro, who dropped the chair and unsheathed his katana. The dark-haired man began to advance on Feliciano, who stood up from the ground. As Kuro ran at him with the katana, Feliciano yelped and dodged the attack. He looked around for something he could use to fight back, and noticed the chair, forgotten on the floor. However, he also noticed that Lutz was trying to get back up too.

Narrowly evading another attack from the blade, Feliciano shuffled forward and kicked Kuro in the stomach. Winded by the blow, the time Kuro spent recovering was time that Feliciano used to pin Lutz down with his boot at Lutz’s chest.

“Hm, if I want something done right, I have to do it myself.” Luciano closed the book and tossed it aside, pulling out his knives.

Feliciano stiffened a little with fear as Luciano spoke. Now he had to take on all three of them at the same time, and that was a scary thought. He wasn’t sure he could do it. Quickly, he delivered a swift kick to Lutz’s head, knocking him out. One down, two to go. He was having a bad feeling about all of this.

Luciano pounced at him, and Feliciano darted away, running to grab the chair he planned on using earlier. He wielded it in the same fashion Kuro had, holding it by the legs. When Luciano came close again, he swung at him with all his might, hoping to knock him out too.

In a tragic turn of events, Feliciano missed. Luciano simply stepped aside, dodging the swing, and the force caused Feliciano to stumble and roll onto the floor. Luciano stepped closer, twirling his knife in his hands. “So you can fight now. At least you’re not boring.”

Promptly, Feliciano scrambled back to his feet, backing away from Luciano. He gripped the chair legs tightly in his hands, and felt something move behind him. Instantly he turned around and swung his chair, hitting Kuro on the head. The Japanese man had decided to sneak up on Feliciano with his katana, but was rendered unconscious.

Turning back to Luciano, Feliciano gave him no time to prepare as he performed his usual tactic of kicking his 2P between the legs.

Luciano winced, but he still attempted to swing his knife at Feliciano, trying to stab him. Feliciano stepped aside and hit him across the head with his chair. When Luciano pulled out a gun, Feliciano’s eyes widened as he hadn’t expected that, but quickly swung the chair at Luciano’s hand to get the gun away from him. The sound of metal hitting the floor was heard as the weapon skidded to the other side of the room.

Feliciano kicked his counterpart in the stomach, causing him to double over. It hadn’t deterred Luciano, though, as he tried to toss a knife at Feliciano’s stomach while he was still doubled over.

Feliciano gasped and used the chair to block the knife. After hearing and feeling the thump on the bottom of the chair, he warily looked at the other side. Sure enough, the blade of the knife was embedded into the wood, the tip poking through to the front slightly. It scared him knowing that without this simple chair, the same knife could have been in his stomach instead, and he wouldn’t have been able to save his brother.

He swung the wooden protector at Luciano’s head, hoping he’d finally be knocked out as well. All that happened was that Luciano slumped to the floor, lying somehow conscious, but only barely.

“Y-You know… You… C-Can’t… Stop… M-Me. Why b-bother trying?” Luciano asked, looking up at Feliciano with slightly unfocused eyes.

“Why can’t I at least try?” Feliciano countered, winding up and getting ready to hit Luciano again.

Luciano groaned in pain, “B-But you’ll… Never… K-Kill me.”

Feliciano frowned, “…I don’t want to kill you, or anyone, for that matter.”

The 2P gasped, trying to breathe. Even as he was struggling to keep conscious, he smirked at Feliciano. “T-Too bad. Y-Your loved ones… W-Will… Die… Soon…”

Feliciano’s heart dropped hearing those words. But a part of him also decided that wouldn’t happen. Not if he had anything to say about it. “…Why do you keep doing this to me and to others?” He asked, trying not to make his voice quiver.

Luciano moaned in pain, and took out a device from his coat. He quickly pressed a button on it, “B-Becau—” He passed out. The device began to beep.

Feliciano didn’t care about what Luciano was going to say. He was about eighty percent sure that he wasn’t going to give him an answer that would make sense to him. Maybe he would have said he was doing it for fun. But he didn’t know, and didn’t want to assume. What he was concerned about now was the strange device that was beeping.

Taking a closer look, he saw what the device said and gasped.

_C4 detonation in 1 minute. Location: Canada’s house._


	10. Grief

There was no off button on the device.

With a startled “V-Vee!”, Feliciano rushed to pick up his unconscious brother and ran faster than he ever ran before. He ran out of the mansion. His surroundings were a blur as he flew by. His legs and arms were numb as he carried his brother to Matthew’s house. He was too panicked to care that his limbs were supposed hurt but instead were numb from the adrenaline. He’d never sprinted faster. Not even in training, not even during war.

One minute. The house was going to blow in less than one minute. Luise, Ludwig, Arthur, and Matthew were going to die if he didn’t do something.

The sky was dark as the moon shone high in the sky. Streetlights were the only way for Feliciano to see where he was going, but after coming to Matthew’s place so many times, he almost memorised the way there by now.

Dropping Lovino and the magical dagger on Matthew’s lawn, he ran up to the front door, frantically banging on it with his bloodied fists and yelling, high pitched and scared, “Wake up! You have to get out of there!”

He sobbed, not knowing what to do when no one came to answer him. He didn’t know how many seconds he had left before he would die with all of them too.

But there was a pink flash of light.

In front of him, a pink note appeared. He grabbed it and read it quickly, not wanting to waste time.

_Dear Italy poppet, I forgot to mention he planted bombs at every country's house. The key card can unlock pretty much anything, so don't think about robbing banks anytime soon. It can also disarm things… If you know where to find them. Good luck, love!_

The key card. Right. He patted his pocket. It was safe in his pocket. He could disarm them. But where were the bombs? Where were they? He didn’t know. He had to disarm them. But he couldn’t think like a cunning mastermind.

Feliciano looked around, walking towards the side of the house, thinking maybe they were hidden in the backyard somewhere like it was part of an Easter egg hunt, until another pink flash stopped him in his tracks. He ran up to the second note, skimming through it too.

_P.S. There’s enough C4 to blow up the entire street. Where would he hide all those explosives? Naughty boy, Luciano is._

The entire street? Where was a place that could hide enough bombs to blow up the whole street?

He looked out onto the road. This entire street could blow. All of it. Where would the bombs be? Wildly looking up and down the entire street, his gaze rested on a manhole cover beside an open manhole. A manhole. The sewers. Down there. The bombs were there.

He dashed toward the manhole, practically diving in and not caring about how the dirty sewers would affect his clothes. He was already bloodied from his earlier fight anyway. And he needed to find the bombs.

Stepping down from the ladder, Feliciano paused for a second. They were up ahead. There were so many. They were strapped to the wall, and he ran forward, almost tripping in the dirty water as he came closer to the bombs.

Five seconds. He approached the bombs only to see the countdown had five seconds until detonation.

Four.

What was he supposed to do? The key card. He took out the key card. What was he supposed to do with this? How would he deactivate the bombs with this? The key card had to do something. What did he have to do?

Three.

He scanned the packs of C4 quickly. Where would he use this key card? There was no slot. No place to normally use a key card. He was running out of time.

Two.

He saw wires. They connected to the timer. He was sweating. Wires. The key card was in his hands. Lots of wires. He ran his finger across the card lightly. The edge was sharp. Cut them. He could cut the wires. He didn’t know which ones he was supposed to cut. This wasn’t like the movies. In one swift motion, he used the edge of the key card to cut all the wires connecting the C4 to the timer.

Disarmed.

Feliciano stood there in the sewers, staring at the word ‘Disarmed.’ on the timer for a good couple seconds. Ten seconds passed, then twenty. Nothing went ‘ka-boom’ yet. He did it right. He was safe. Luise and Ludwig were safe. Everyone on this street was safe.

He was relieved. He couldn’t believe he actually did it. He let go of the breath he hadn’t noticed he was holding, and for the first time since coming down to the sewers, he noticed the god-awful stench. To his disgust, he held his nose and started making his way back up to the ladder, ready to flee this place.

As he ascended, he realized he was shaking. His palms were sweaty as he gripped the rungs of the ladder. He still smelled like the sewers, even once he was above ground again. He could laugh and cry at the same time.

After seeing his brother still lying down on Matthew’s lawn, what Feliciano smelled like seemed less important now. At least he was safe. They were safe now. And because they were safe, Feliciano realized for the first time in possibly days how tired he was. He wanted nothing more than to take a shower, and then collapse into his bed, cuddling a pillow, or Lovino, or something. He wanted to sleep for a long time after all of this.

After trying to pick up Lovino again, Feliciano realized it was a lot harder than it was a minute ago. All the panic and adrenaline had worn off. Plus, he was tired. He was more tired than he’d ever been.

He sighed, and picked up the dagger that was still lying next to his brother, then began dragging Lovino back to his house. At least his house was closer from here than Lovino’s was.

It took a gruelling several minutes until Feliciano finally reached his house. Compared to how fast it took for him to run from Luciano’s mansion to Matthew’s house earlier, he felt like he turned into a snail within those minutes. He moved slowly because everything in his body ached, and he was still incredibly tired.

Once he reached home, he lifted Lovino up with a grunt and placed him carefully on the couch. He was still unconscious, so Feliciano decided now would be the perfect time for a shower. Walking up the stairs, he realized it had been a while since he’d set foot in his own house. Normally, he always went off to Luise or Ludwig’s houses. He couldn’t do that anymore. Being back in his own house only made that feel worse.

He sighed as he got to the bathroom. He stared at himself in the mirror. He looked like a mess, and he felt like one too. Feliciano’s hair was messy, his clothes were all bloody and torn in a few places, and he still smelled like a sewer.

Before he started taking off his clothes, he realized he was still holding the dagger. It felt strange in his hand. He didn’t want to be holding it. It felt like dark energy pulsated through it, feeling almost evil. It scared him. Gingerly, he set the dagger on the sink counter. He reached into his pockets and pulled out everything he had in them. They were almost all from Olivia. The engagement ring, the bottled antidote for poison, the key card, and all the notes Olivia gave him. Then there was his phone. He set everything in a pile along with the dagger.

He took off his clothes and tossed them into the laundry pile. He remembered he was still wearing the bandages on his arms. He almost forgot they were there at all. The bandages covered up his wounds from when Luciano stabbed him in the arm, threatening to make him pasta sauce. It happened after Arthur fixed Luciano, and then before that…

Feliciano felt dirty. He didn’t know if he would ever get clean, especially not after what happened before. He unraveled the bandages, inspecting the wound. It was somewhat healed now. The bleeding had long since stopped, and it looked much better than it had when it needed to be patched up by Matthew, thanks to being a nation. He tossed the bandages into the garbage, and then hopped into the shower.

He hadn’t had a proper shower since he got back from Olivia’s place, after she took the opposite potion out of him. Before the massacre in Matthew’s basement happened. He was glad he could clean himself now. All the sewer water and dried blood made him smell like a walking corpse.

He thought it would take forever to scrub himself clean, having to wash away everything that happened ever since it all started, but it wasn’t that hard. At least, it wasn’t as hard as he thought it would be.

If only he could wash away his memories that easily.

Once he got out of the shower, smelling a little nicer, he got into clean clothes. He put the things he set on the sink back into his pockets, and took the dagger with him as he headed downstairs. He still didn’t like holding it, but he thought he should keep it with him. Who knows what would happen if it got lost and fell into the wrong hands?

He looked back to the couch where Lovino still laid, and decided to sit beside him, waiting for him to wake up.

***

“W-What happened…?” Lovino’s sleepy voice awakened Feliciano.

Feliciano sat up on the couch, where before waking up, he was slumped and leaning a little on his brother. It seemed he had fallen asleep. He didn’t know how long, but judging by the sunrise outside, he might have slept for at least a few hours while he was waiting for Lovino to wake up. The dagger was still tightly in his grip.

Now that Lovino was awake, Feliciano smiled a little. He hugged him tightly, “Are you okay, fratello?”

“No…” He mumbled, groaning a little in pain. He noticed the look that Feliciano was giving him and then sighed, “Uh, I’m fine.”

Feliciano frowned a little, looking down. “…Olivia told me they were going to kill you and use you as a sacrifice for something…”

“That’s fucked up.” Lovino frowned with him.

“Are you okay now, Lovi? What were they doing to you?” Feliciano asked, looking sadly at Lovino.

“I don’t know… They just whipped me a lot and put me on this stone altar.” Lovino mumbled, and then stood up, “I got blood all over your floor.”

“It’s okay.” Feliciano honestly didn’t care about the state of the floor, as long as his big brother was okay. He motioned for him to sit back down. “Do you need some pasta? I can go get you some.”

Lovino sat back down, to Feliciano’s relief. “Sì, okay. I’ll just wait here.”

Feliciano got up from the couch, walking into the kitchen. Opening the fridge, he found that there was still some leftover pasta from the last time he made some. He reheated the pasta to a proper temperature, and once he was done, stuck a fork into the pasta. It looked and smelled just as fresh as it did when he first cooked it. He smiled a little. He still loved pasta, and the familiar smell made him happy. He almost forgot about the things that happened to him earlier. Almost.

Returning to the living room, Feliciano was about to call out to Lovino that the pasta was ready, until he noticed his brother was asleep again. He set the plate of hot pasta onto the coffee table. It made sense that Lovino was sleeping again; he was probably tired from what happened too. And he needed to rest, with all the injuries he had.

He picked Lovino up from the couch, deciding to carry him to the guest room. He laid him down on the bed, and shockingly, Lovino rolled onto his side to reveal a knife was embedded in his back. Feliciano stared at it for a few moments, stunned. Had the knife been in Lovino’s back this whole time? How hadn’t he noticed it before? He blamed himself for being too preoccupied with everything else to notice there was a knife sticking out of his big brother.

Blood was caked around where the knife pierced his skin. Feliciano made a face as he saw that, and carefully tried to pull the knife out of Lovino’s back. He set the knife and the magic dagger down on the nightstand. With the wound reopened, blood began to leak out once again, and Feliciano ran to the bathroom to find his first aid kit. Maybe he could figure out how to patch him up.

By the time he returned with the first aid kit, he stopped at the doorframe. Lovino’s chest wasn’t moving. Instantly, panic washed over him. It was his fault, wasn’t it? If only he hadn’t taken the knife out, if he hadn’t left to look for a first aid kit, if he hadn’t tried to do this all by himself…

Feliciano rushed towards him, grabbing Lovino’s wrist. He tried to feel around for a pulse, but there wasn’t one. Although he didn’t know if he was doing it right anyway. Lovino’s hands were cold, and more of his blood had spilled out onto the once pristine bedsheets.

He considered attempting to perform CPR, but he didn’t know how to do it as well enough as Matthew. And maybe that wouldn’t have helped anyway. He clearly did not know what he was doing. Panicking even more, he whipped out his phone from his pocket and dialed the only number he could think to call for help.

“Hello, poppet!” Olivia chirped, appearing in the room with a pink flash of light.

Feliciano turned off his phone, tears prickling at the corners of his eyes as he spoke, “I-I don’t know what to do, fratello’s not breathing and— And… Help, per favore?” He asked in a small voice. His lower lip trembled.

“Okay!” Olivia said, and walked toward Lovino. She checked his pulse for a few seconds, and looked back at Feliciano, “I recommend turning his corpse into a cupcake.”

“W-What do you mean? He’s dead…?” Feliciano stared at her.

“Yes, now can I make him into a cupcake or not?” Olivia asked, taking out her knife. “Please?”

Feliciano’s eyes widened. “N-No!”

“Oh, okay. What are you going to do with his body, then?” Olivia asked, thankfully putting her knife away.

Feliciano slowly moved his gaze toward where he left the dagger, beside the knife that killed his brother. He whimpered, and asked quietly, “…D-Do I really have to… Kill someone, if I want to revive him?”

Olivia looked down sadly, “Uh… I could make him into something tasty?” She offered.

Feliciano shook his head, “I don’t want to eat my fratellone…”

“Aw, too bad. Then what will you do?” Olivia tilted her head.

What _was_ he going to do? The tears were threatening to spill down his cheeks. “…B-But I don’t want to kill anyone! I don’t know w-what to do…” He really didn’t want to kill anyone, but he also didn’t want his brother to be dead. He didn’t know what to do. For the first time since Luise and Ludwig were poisoned, Feliciano cried.

Olivia hugged him gently. By now, he realized he wasn’t as scared of her anymore. He didn’t mind her arms wrapping around him. His heart wasn’t racing because of her presence, and he didn’t feel the urge to scream. Maybe it was because of how many times she helped him. He realized he slowly grew to trust her again over these past few days. And he needed someone, anyone, to comfort him at a time like this.

He embraced her, hugging her back as he cried on her shoulder.

“Don't worry poppet, you'll figure something out. After all, Romano's in a better place, even though he killed lots of people. And I'm sure Isabel would get over it…” Olivia said, rubbing his back softly. “It’s okay, I’ll plan his funeral later.”

Feliciano didn’t want to think about his brother needing a funeral. He began to hiccup from the crying, “B-But… D-Do I really have to _kill_ someone with that dagger if I want him to come back to life…?”

“I-I’m afraid so, love… I’m afraid so.” Olivia looked at him sympathetically, gently patting him on the head. She wiped his tears away with a pink handkerchief, “I-If it makes you feel any better… You can get someone to do it for you…”

“…Wh-What do you mean?” Feliciano asked, sniffling.

“Get someone who cares about Romano as much as you do to do it… You can, i-if you want…” Olivia whispered, hugging the Italian tighter.

“W-What if they don’t want to do it either?”

“Then Romano will be gone…” Olivia stroked Feliciano’s hair as his tears fell onto her dress. “So what’s your decision, love?”

Feliciano paused. “…I c-could try asking someone…”

“But who would want to kill someone? Who would want to bear that guilt?” Olivia asked.

Feliciano didn’t know. He couldn’t think of anyone who would kill for Lovino, and he didn’t want to put anyone through the guilt of doing so. He stayed quiet, but the quiet was soon interrupted.

His phone rang.

“Uh oh…” Olivia mumbled. “Put it on speakerphone, please.”

Feliciano sniffled, drying the last of his tears as he fished his phone out of his pocket. Matthew was calling him. Wondering why the Canadian was calling, he answered the call and put it on speaker just as Olivia requested.

Mathew sounded frantic. “I-Italy! Help! Luciano’s trying to kill Ludwig and Luise personally!” The sound of banging was heard in the background. Feliciano suspected they weren’t just knocking politely on the door waiting for Matthew to open it. “I-I barricaded the door so they can’t get in, b-but I don’t know how long it will— Ah!”

Dial tone. The phone line went dead.

Feliciano stood there, stunned. He had to move. He had to get there as soon as possible. He thrust his phone back into his pocket. “We have to hurry…” He mumbled, grabbing the dagger off of the nightstand. He tilted his head at Olivia’s direction, “Are you coming with me…?”

Olivia simply shook her head, holding her hands up, “I can’t… I have to do something. I hope you understand, poppet.”

Feliciano thought that was a little odd, but nodded anyway. There was no time to question her right now. “…Okay. Ciao.” With that, he sprinted down the stairs and out the door, running quickly back to Matthew’s house.

He wasn’t quite as fast as he’d been when he had to stop the bombs from exploding earlier, but he was fast nonetheless. Gripping the magic dagger in his hand, he made his way from street to street, finally arriving at Matthew’s.

The first thing he noticed once he got there, was that there was an enormous hole in the wall where the front door used to be. Feliciano knew he was going to have a bad feeling about all of this, but the feeling got even worse now. He dreaded walking into the house, stepping over the broken drywall, but he did anyway.

His feet were lead. They didn’t want to move forward either, but Feliciano forced them to. He couldn’t save Lovino, but he had to save Luise and Ludwig.

He ran up the stairs, up to where Matthew’s makeshift hospital was, only to find that the 2P Axis were holding him by the arms. Matthew was trying to block the door with his body, but Lutz and Kuro got a hold of him. Luciano had his knife out, about to stab him.

Before Luciano had a chance to stab the poor blond, Feliciano leapt at him, tackling him to the ground to stop him. He sat on top of his 2P’s chest, trying to pin him to the ground. However, Luciano must have known he was coming for him, as he didn’t seem surprised.

Luciano greeted him with a smirk, trying to slash his knife at Feliciano’s face as he snarled, “Ciao, son of a bitch.”

Feliciano felt a sting on his cheek. He hadn’t pinned down Luciano’s arms, and the 2P was still holding his knife. To make matters worse, Lutz and Kuro were now coming for him too, dropping Matthew in the process. Not that it was a _bad_ thing they forgot about dealing with the Canadian, that was good and he was glad Matthew wasn’t going to be harmed anymore. But Feliciano really didn’t want to face all three of them while having absolutely no upper hand.

As much as Feliciano tried to fight back, he was quickly overtaken. He tried to stand back up to kick Kuro in the stomach, and then tackle Lutz like he did before, but using the same strategy as the last time was a bad idea. Lutz was unaffected by the tackle, and simply punched Feliciano’s face in return. While Feliciano was stunned, Luciano took the opportunity to tackle Feliciano from behind, the two of them rolling onto the ground.

Feliciano whimpered, making an attempt to get away, but Luciano pinned him down by the shoulders. “Lutz, Kuro, go kill the potato bastards while I handle this one.” The 2P ordered, pressing his knife up to Feliciano’s neck. Feliciano tried to struggle against him, wanting to get away, but Luciano’s grip tightened. “Don’t even think about it.”

“W-Why… Are you doing this?” Feliciano asked, scared, staring up into Luciano’s eyes.

“So I can have the satisfaction of killing you.” Luciano pressed the knife into Feliciano’s neck, “Slowly.”

His breath hitched as he felt the metal blade against his skin, pressing into it, trying to cut him open. He clenched his fists and realized even after all of this, he was still holding the dagger tightly. He was scared, but he knew if he died right now, he wouldn’t be able to save Luise and Ludwig. Luciano would win. He did the only thing he could think to do, and jabbed the blade into Luciano’s side.

Luciano gasped and winced, “You w-wouldn’t actually kill me, would you?” He smirked as his knife traced along Feliciano’s skin dangerously.

“…I don’t want to…” Feliciano pressed the dagger in deeper, even as he was shaking slightly. “But if I really need to…”

The dagger glowed as it drained Luciano’s life force. Even as Luciano coughed out blood, he grinned like a maniac. “But you will h-have to live with the fact… Y-You’re a murderer too. Just like me.”

 _Just like me._ His words echoed in the scared Italian’s mind. Feliciano remembered what Luciano said to him in that second timeloop. He still didn’t want to believe it. He wanted to pretend that he wasn’t stabbing Luciano. That nothing this _ironic_ was happening right now. That Luise and Ludwig _weren’t_ going to die if he didn’t do something. He wanted to pretend that if he hadn’t stabbed Luciano, both of them would be fine in the end. That everything was fine, and that he was just having a nice day filled with cooking delicious food and petting cats.

But life never gives you everything you want.

Maybe their fight was predestined. Maybe it was fate that one of them had to die in this battle. If Feliciano didn’t kill Luciano first, then Feliciano would certainly be the one to die instead.

Feliciano took the dagger out and closed his eyes, but just as quickly, he stabbed Luciano again. This time, the dagger hit closer to the heart. He may not have been in as much pain as Luciano, but he had to fight to blink away tears. He wished it didn’t have to be like this.

“I-I’m sorry… I’m sorry, b-but I have to… I wish you didn’t do all those things to ruin my life, and that we could have been friends instead…” Feliciano whimpered. He trembled as the weight of what he was doing felt heavier than Luciano pinning him down. Pulling the dagger out, this time Feliciano stabbed him in directly in the heart.

The dagger’s glow grew brighter. A white light engulfed the weapon, and then it engulfed Luciano. He gasped as the dagger drained him, and then he closed his eyes. With his final breath, he whispered, “Addio…”

Luciano’s body slumped on top of Feliciano as dead weight. There was no time to mourn him, and Feliciano knew he had to move quickly even though he didn’t want to.

He pulled the dagger out of the corpse. Pushing Luciano off of him, he got back up onto his feet, although his body was shaking, and he stumbled towards the room where Luise and Ludwig slept. Kuro and Lutz were standing side by side over their beds, approaching while holding knives menacingly over their bodies. Matthew was off to the side, unable to stop them any longer. Feliciano leapt at them, coming in from the side and tackled them both to the ground with all the force his skinny body could muster. Protecting his loved ones proved to be a powerful motivation for the Italian.

Being farther away, Kuro had the least of Feliciano’s weight on him and quickly managed to stand up, while Lutz, who was pinned under Feliciano, tried to flip over and pin the 1P onto the floor instead.

Feliciano panicked. He couldn’t let either one of them get close to Luise and Ludwig. Acting fast, he kneed Lutz in the gut and scrambled to get away, jumping to his feet. He gripped Olivia’s dagger. He ran up to kick Kuro across the head.

But he was too late.

Luise’s heart monitor continued to beep. But there was a stab wound in the middle of her gut, where a baby once was. Kuro held a bloody knife. Feliciano kicked him anyway.

The Asian man staggered from the blow, but unfortunately, was still conscious. Quickly, Kuro moved towards Ludwig, trying to swing his knife at him too, but Feliciano rammed into him and pushed him down to the ground. He was not going to lose the last person he had left.

Kuro lay on the floor, as Feliciano stood panting for breath. Lutz was coming up behind him, and he swiftly turned around to deliver another kick to the German’s stomach. Lutz doubled over, winded.

Then Luise’s heart monitor flatlined. She was gone, as quick as that, and had bled out from her injury. All while she wasn’t even aware that any of this happened in the first place. Feliciano was devastated. After trying to save her for so long, this had to happen anyway. There was nothing he could have done for her. Nothing he could do, except…

Kuro recovered, and was now standing to come at Feliciano. Feliciano kicked Kuro in the stomach, but he only ended up angering him further. Kuro reached for his katana. Lutz came crawling towards Feliciano, sporting his knife between his teeth, only to be kicked in the face by the Italian. There was no winning against the two of them at same time, unless he did something about that.

With no time to waste, Feliciano thrust the dagger at Kuro, stabbing him in the arm. Normally, it may not have been an effective spot to stab a person in, especially when they were a 2P who was rather used to getting injured in fights. And there was that fact that the arm wasn’t a place where blood loss could be lethal anyway. But the enchanted weapon began to cause searing pain, definitely much worse than any of Kuro’s tattoos, once it punctured the skin. Kuro cried out at the sensation.

Feliciano winced, unable to help naturally feeling bad even though this man was responsible for the death of his fiancée. “I-I’m sorry!” He yelped, taking the dagger out and stabbing his side instead.

“W-What have you done!?” Kuro’s stare bore into Feliciano, eyes wide and haunting. Feliciano didn’t like the feeling that that scary stare gave him.

“You’re like Luciano now.” Lutz grunted, recovering from the kick to the face. Instead of bothering to stop Feliciano this time, he began to head towards Ludwig while the Italian was occupied.

Someone said it to him again. He was like Luciano. But he wasn’t, right? _That wasn’t true, right?_ Feliciano teared up and let out a sob as he stabbed Kuro in the chest, quickly taking out the dagger again. He rushed over to tackle Lutz. Kuro was left to bleed out, and the dagger glowed white again as Kuro’s eyes turned dull behind Feliciano’s back.

Lutz fell to the ground with a hard thump. He tried to escape, but Feliciano fought against him, struggling to keep him pinned down. Lutz got an arm free and grabbed his knife, growling up at Feliciano. “So you’re going to kill me now? Get on with it already.”

Quickly, Feliciano grabbed the knife away, tossing it to the other side of the room. He was still whimpering, and his tears continued to stream down his face, washing the blood off in lines down his cheeks. “I-Is Luddy dead too, or is it j-just Luise…?”

“Your fiancée?” Lutz huffed, “She’s good as dead. Ludwig’s fine… Sadly. Now go on and kill me. You’ve already killed two, what difference will three make?”

Feliciano teared up again. His grip loosened slightly as he whispered, “I d-didn’t want to kill anyone anyway. If Ludwig’s not dead, then… I don’t need to use this…” He felt chills as he looked down at the now blood covered dagger.

“Too bad.” Lutz smirked. With his knife tossed across the room, he snatched the closest weapon to him, which was the magic dagger. Feliciano’s blood ran cold. He couldn’t let Lutz use the dagger. He especially couldn’t let Lutz use the dagger on _him_!

Lutz slashed at Feliciano, but the Italian yelped and rolled away, quickly getting up onto his feet. He then stomped on Lutz’s stomach before he tried to get up, and grabbed the dagger back when the German gasped in pain. Feliciano’s heart felt like it was beating so fast, it was going to burst.

Feliciano wound up, pulling his kicking foot back and getting ready to try to kick Lutz unconscious, but his remaining ankle was grabbed by the 2P. He yelled out as his foot was yanked out from under him, making him lose his balance as he crashed to the floor. As he fell, he dropped the dagger. It was within arm’s length from him, but Lutz pulled him back by his feet. The German dove after the weapon and ended up on top of Feliciano, smothering him. Feliciano felt like he was going to be crushed under Lutz’s weight, and gasped for air as he desperately tried to throw him off. They wrestled on the ground until a hand managed to find its way toward the dagger, wrapping its fingers around it.

Lutz grinned evilly, pinning Feliciano to the ground. “I’d like to thank you.”

“W-What…?” Feliciano whimpered, squirming as he tried to get away from Lutz’s grip. His voice was filled with fear. Lutz had the dagger.

“For getting rid of them for me. Now, one last person to get rid of myself…” Lutz positioned the dagger over Feliciano’s heart, and the Italian’s eyes widened. He had to think as quickly as he did when he deactivated the bombs earlier.

Doing the only thing that came to mind that had the possibility of being somewhat effective, Feliciano kneed the German right in the crotch, and hard, at that. To his relief, Lutz gasped and dropped the dagger onto Feliciano’s chest, letting the blade fall harmlessly on its side atop the Italian’s pectorals.

Feliciano exhaled. Too many emotions that he couldn’t name filled him up. He panicked as he grabbed the dagger, but hurriedly thrust it into Lutz’s side.

Lutz gasped. “I-I don’t care if you kill me… But who’s going to break it to Lucrezia?”

Feliciano frowned. He remembered some time ago, nations were talking about how Lutz and Luciano’s female counterpart were in love with each other. He thought it was really sweet at the time. It made him feel even worse now. He didn’t want to kill Lutz. He didn’t want to hurt Lucrezia.

“I-I told you, I don’t want to kill you…” Feliciano whimpered, and pushed Lutz off of him. The dagger was still embedded in Lutz’s side as his life force slowly ebbed out of him. Feliciano stood, teary-eyed and frozen as the white glow began to become stronger, and stronger. Lutz couldn’t move. It was only a few seconds close to being too late when Feliciano unfroze and realized he didn’t have to let the dagger kill Lutz.

He rushed towards the dying man and pulled the dagger out. Thankfully, it stopped glowing. Lutz slumped on the floor, bleeding heavily, but he wasn’t dead. Not yet, at least. His chest rose and fell.

“Italy…!” Matthew’s groggy voice snapped Feliciano out of his shock.

He looked towards the Canadian, to the wall where he had been unconscious since Feliciano came into the room. Feliciano whimpered softly, feeling tears blur his vision once again. “…He… They… D-Died—”

Matthew slowly stood up, seeming to be in slight pain. He looked at Luise’s non-existent heart rate. “O-Oh, Italy! I’m so sorry! I tried to s-stop them but…” He began tearing up himself.

“It’s alright… This dagger… Olivia said I can revive her with it.” Feliciano said quietly, staring down at the dagger in his hand. He still didn’t like it. But what was done, was done, and there was no point in wasting the dagger’s power now that it was all charged with life.

Matthew frowned, “W-What!? You’re using dark magic… Oh…”

Feliciano sniffed, and wiped away his tears on his bloody sleeve. “Do you know what I’m supposed to do with the dagger?” He asked.

Matthew shook his head. “I’m afraid England never let us in the basement when he was practicing magic. B-But what do we do about Lutz?”

Looking back to Lutz, Feliciano could see a pool of blood forming around his body. Seeing that made him feel horrible. He wished he could apologize a million times, but ‘sorry’ wouldn’t fix anything. “He’s losing a lot of blood… Maybe we should bandage him or something?” Feliciano suggested.

“Oh, okay.” The Canadian said. He lifted Lutz onto a hospital bed and started treating him, “You should find out how to use… That.”

Right. The dagger. Feliciano kept gripping it in his hands. His knuckles were almost white from how hard he’d been holding it this whole time. It was no shock. He was still incredibly frightened by what had happened. It was unbelievable.

He was about to head out to find Olivia, but the Brit somehow always had impeccable timing. She skipped into the room, her dress covered in blood for unknown reasons that Feliciano didn’t want to know anyway, and greeted everyone with a pleasant, “’Ello, poppet!”

“Ciao… How do I revive people with this?” Feliciano asked, tilting his head as he held up the dagger. He had gotten so used to everything, that Olivia’s sudden entrance didn’t faze him in the slightest.

“Oh, of course! May I?” Olivia held out her palm.

Feliciano gave the weapon to her, and she took it. She walked up to Luise’s bed, and put the flat part of the blade on the German’s lips. She began chanting some arcane words that Feliciano couldn’t make out, but he watched what she was doing anyway.

She stopped chanting. The white light that enveloped Luciano’s body began to do the same for Luise. Before his eyes, his fiancée’s wounds healed where the light touched her, and the rest of the light formed a ball that absorbed right into her heart.

All of a sudden, the electrocardiogram sprang back to life as it showed a normal heart beat rate. Luise’s eyes opened slowly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welp that was the climax-- no more action for the rest of the fic rip  
> don't worry @ felicest fans!! just because Luci's dead right now, doesn't mean this is the last of him ;)  
> well, actually it is the end of Luci for this particular story- it's a muti-part series, so he'll come back in the second part wink wink ;))))


	11. Revival

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow the word count is currently 69669 ;)

Feliciano never thought he could feel so  _ happy _ after everything that happened. Nothing compared to how happy he felt right now. As soon as Luise’s eyes opened, Feliciano felt his heart skip a beat.

He rushed up to her side quickly, wrapping his arms around her in a hug.

She was warm. He felt like he could cry. He was just so happy; happy she was so warm, happy that she was alive. He held her close, as if he was afraid he might lose her again, and let out a sigh. He could worry about the blood on his clothes staining Luise’s clothes, and Matthew’s bedsheet, later. Nothing else mattered right now.

“I-Italy?” Luise’s eyes opened all the way. She seemed stunned to see Feliciano.

“Sì, I’m here~ Are… Are you alright?” Feliciano asked in a whisper, hugging her tighter. He still couldn’t believe it.

“I was… in this place…” She teared up and hugged him back, “But I c-couldn’t find you anywhere!”

Feliciano had no idea what place she could have been talking about. He assumed it was heaven, because there was no way that she would wind up anywhere else when she died, right? He hoped so. She was such a kind and wonderful person. She didn’t deserve any less. But the thought just made him sadder, because she died. And it was his fault. He couldn’t prevent it. And it was also his fault that two others had died in place of her and Ludwig. That was Feliciano’s fault too. He killed them.

He began to sob in her arms, and she responded by patting him gently. In turn, Luise sobbed onto his shoulder. “Feliciano… How long?”

The question was met with confusion. Feliciano tilt his head, hiccupping slightly from the crying, “What do you mean? How long were you dead…?”

Luise stared at him blankly, with her tears continuing to stream down her face. “I was dead? Oh, Italy… I’m so sorry.” She whispered, hugging him tightly.

Feliciano felt immense guilt, as if guilt had developed a solid form and made itself a home in the bottom of his stomach. It felt like it weighed him down and made him feel queasy. “It’s alright now…” He stroked her short hair. It certainly was alright now, in the sense that she was alive again. But the things he had to do to make that happen…

Luise remained blissfully unaware to his guilt as she wiped away his tears and nuzzled his cheek. “Ich liebe dich.”

“T-Ti amo.” He whispered, hugging her tighter.

“A-Are you okay? You’re covered in blood…” Luise frowned, noticing all the blood that was on the Italian.

Feliciano didn’t know how to answer that. He didn’t want to answer that. No, he was not okay. He definitely wasn’t okay. He was covered in blood, and it wasn’t just his own blood, but the blood of the 2P Axis too. He cried.

Luise simply held Feliciano, stroking his hair gently, “N-Never mind. I’m okay as long as I’m with you.” She kissed his cheek, then laid her head on his shoulder, “I looked for you… In that place… I-I saw beautiful things beyond my imagination… But I was so lonely without you. But then I realized that as long as you were alive, I would be okay.”

The sound of Feliciano’s crying was all that Luise got as a response. She was starting to sense that there was something odd about this. If she was alive again, surely it should be a happy moment. But Feliciano couldn’t stop crying, and from the look on his face, they weren’t tears of joy.

“Italy?” Luise asked, her growing concern apparent as she hugged Feliciano.

“Yes?” Feliciano replied, hugging her back.

“Everything is okay now…” Luise smiled a little at him, “Right?”

Feliciano paled. He shook his head, hugging her as he sniffled, “I’m not sure that’s exactly true…”

“Oh?” She wiped away his tears and kissed him, trying to comfort him. She asked, “How so?”

He really didn’t want to tell her. He didn’t want to ruin this ‘happy moment’ with her, but he also couldn’t stop thinking about it. Feliciano didn’t want her to know what he did, but he didn’t want to lie to her either.

“S-So many things happened since you got poisoned…” He whimpered.

“Like what?” She asked.

“…Well, first, Luciano raped me.” Feliciano hiccupped, sobbing a bit more.

Luise’s expression changed to anger. She hugged him tightly, “That little hurensohn! I’ll kill him if I ever get my hands on him!”

Hearing that, Feliciano only sobbed harder as he was reminded of what painfully happened a short time ago. He had to take a few seconds to catch his breath as the tears poured down his face. “Y-You won’t have to worry about that. H…He’s already dead.”

“Oh…” Her anger faded. She hugged Feliciano and stroked his head softly, “W-What happened? You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to…”

He took a deep breath before he continued describing the unappealing details, “A-And after Luciano did… that… I got England o-over here since Lutz and Kuro tortured him into getting Luciano back to normal… But… But then, you and Luddy had to be put into a coma…”

Seeing how traumatized Feliciano was, Luise felt horrible. She couldn’t stand to see him like this. He was forcing himself to tell her these things when he didn’t have to, but he still wanted to anyway. She silenced him with a kiss on the lips, taking several long seconds until Feliciano’s breathing finally slowed down a little more as he relaxed. She had her arms wrapped around his neck. He returned the kiss, embracing Luise as he held her close, finding a sense of comfort from being with the person he loved.

Matthew, who had been working on tending to Lutz’s injuries, glanced over at the couple. He blushed from seeing them kiss, and continued to work on helping Lutz. Olivia seemed to be long gone by now, and the magic dagger had been left on a nearby chair, on top of some sort of folded cloths.

After a while, Luise pulled away for air. She looked into Feliciano’s eyes, “Well, I’m awake now.”

Feliciano panted, catching his breath after breaking away from the kiss. He could only give a weak smile in response before he continued, “…And we found out you really  _ were  _ pregnant, b-but then… To save you and Ludwig… Our baby,” He choked a little on his tears. “She… She had to die…”

“O-Oh… It was a girl… How do you know?” Luise asked, hugging him and trying to comfort him again.

He sniffed, “Olivia told me. She showed me a memory that our bambina would have had…”

“What was she like? Or would have been like? Our little girl?” Luise asked.

Feliciano whimpered as he recalled the memory and the fate of his unborn daughter, “S-She was really cute and sweet, and we would have named her Lovina… But Olivia also told me that she would have died anyway, since after that memory she showed me, L-Luciano would slit her throat…” He sobbed harder, “I guess he can’t do that anymore, though…”

She began to tear up herself, at a loss for words. “Oh… I….” She hugged Feliciano tighter.

“And then, Olivia gave me some things… The first thing is a surprise for you… T-The second thing was an antidote for the poison Luciano was going to use on our wedding guests, and t-the third thing… was… that dagger…” Feliciano broke into loud wailing. He clung onto Luise, not wanting to remember what happened.

She kissed his forehead, stroking his hair softly, “That dagger… It’s not normal, is it?”

He shook his head. He took a moment to calm down before he said, “She told me that I can save someone from death if… if I k-kill someone else with it…” With that, Feliciano whimpered and sobbed violently again.

“Oh… You…” The corners of her mouth curved down as her eyebrows furrowed. She hugged him tight and kissed his cheek briefly. “Italy…”

“Y-You probably hate me, right? Lovi died too, a-and then… I had to… Had to… Luciano and Kuro…” The Italian bawled harder, whimpering loudly as he began to hyperventilate.

“Nein, Feliciano, I still love you. You had no other choice… U-Unlike me…” Luise hugged him tight, “When I had that crazy boss, remember? I… I could have refused and prevented all those deaths… But I d-didn't. You had no other choice…” She stroked his cheek, “You’re stronger than you realize, mein liebling.”

Feliciano didn’t think he could agree with that. After all, he did have a choice. He could have  _ not _ killed them, but Luise would still be dead and there would have only been a slim chance of preventing Ludwig’s death too… But that was still a choice he could have made. He looked at Luise with teary, red eyes, trying to calm his breathing, “But… L-Luciano said a couple times to me that I was… like h-him, and so did Lutz. It’s not true, right? I don’t want to be like him…”

She shook her head. “Nein. They kill out of hatred, or vengeance, or just because they can. You did it because you had to… To s-save the ones you love… And love you back.”

“V-Vee… Ti amo così tanto~” Feliciano managed a small smile at that.

Luise nuzzled his cheek, “Ich liebe dich auch. So much.”

“…Are you alright enough for us to go home now, or do you still need to stay here?” Feliciano asked.

“I-I think I’m okay…” She swept Feliciano off his feet and picked him up bridal style as she got up from the bed, “If I can do this.”

Feliciano blushed a little as he was picked up. She was still so strong! As Luise headed for the door, Feliciano stopped her. “Wait! We still need the dagger… To revive Lovi…”

“O-Oh. Of course.” Luise said. She put Feliciano down.

He walked towards the chair where Olivia left the dagger. He was about to reach for it and take it, when he paused. There was a note left in pink paper that was unmistakably from Olivia herself. Upon closer inspection, the note and dagger turned out to be sitting on top of a pile of clean clothes. His clothes. How did Olivia get into his closet? Never mind that. His hand reached for the paper instead.

_ Dear Italy poppet, Lutz may be in comatose for a while. His life energy was drained… But you can use that to revive only about one person. This still has Kuro’s life energy in it too, so don’t waste it. _

Feliciano’s eyes lit up for a second. He could use the dagger to wake up both Lovino  _ and _ Ludwig. He still felt horrible about what he did with the dagger, but it already happened and it was too late to take anything back. He decided he shouldn’t waste any of this ‘life energy’ and just revive Lovino and Ludwig.

He took the handle of the weapon in his hand once again. It still felt heavy, and the feeling it gave off felt like it was taunting him about what happened earlier. It still made him uneasy, and he wanted to never see it ever again after this.

He turned back to Luise, “I’m going to change first.” With that, he grabbed the pile of clothes and rushed to Matthew’s bathroom.

The blood had partially dried by then, but Feliciano removed his clothes and used water from the sink to scrub at places on his skin where blood splattered. He took everything from the pockets of his old clothes and put them in his new ones after he was done changing and cleaning up. A clean pair of clothes was actually nice after all of this. But he didn’t know where to put the old ones. They were torn beyond repair and stained with blood all over, so hopefully Matthew wouldn’t mind having the clothes in his garbage, would he?

He stepped out of the bathroom to see Luise waiting for him. “Let’s go now.” He said.

“Ja, okay.” She picked Feliciano up again and started heading to the stairs, where a pile of rubble settled in place of the front door.

As Luise stepped over the rubble and set foot outside, Feliciano looked up at her. “…Should we go look for Olivia first, though? I can’t really use the dagger to revive someone by myself.”

“How do you usually find her?” Luise asked.

Feliciano thought for a second. “…Sometimes she just appears, but… I went to her shop with mio fratello before. Maybe we could try there?”

“Hm, okay.” And with that, Luise carried Feliciano to the bakery.

It wasn’t long before they reached the Kirkland’s bakery. The sun was high up in the sky, signalling that it was getting close to noon, or maybe it was already past noon. In any case, that meant the establishment should definitely be open by now, and with lots of customers to boot. Luise put Feliciano down before they walked in together, and saw Olivia sweeping the floor behind the counter as Oliver sold cupcakes at the register.

“Ciao, Olivia.” Feliciano said, walking up to her. He hoped no one else would notice the dagger in his hands, but they seemed preoccupied enough with the cupcakes anyway.

“Oh, good morning!” Olivia said with a smile, looking up at Feliciano and Luise.

Oliver waved as the last customer in line left with a cupcake, then looked at the couple with an identical smile, “Would you like to order anything?”

Feliciano shook his head, “No, it’s alright. We just came here to ask you something.”

Both Olivia and Oliver spoke, “What is it, poppet? Oh, we said the same thing! Oh, we did it again!” They giggled together. Feliciano looked at them awkwardly. It wasn’t like he needed his brother to be revived before a certain time limit, but he would appreciate getting his brother back as soon as possible.

“…So, Olivia, can you revive mio fratello with the dagger again for me?” He asked.

“I’m afraid I can’t. I used up all my magic for now. Sorry, love.” Olivia said.

Oliver piped up, “I would do it, but I need to help my lovely cuppycake-sweetiepie run the shop.”

“I’ll help while you go revive Romano.” Luise offered.

Oliver clapped his hands together, “Oh, splendid! Do you mind, Italy, poppet?”

“I don’t mind. Do you want me to take you to Lovi now?” Feliciano asked.

“Of course!” Oliver took off his apron and handed it to Luise, “Good luck, love!”

Olivia gasped happily and began to push the German woman into the back, where the kitchen was. “I’ll show you how to make cupcakes!”

***

Shortly, Feliciano and Oliver reached the Italian’s house. Feliciano was still gripping the dagger in his hand. Of course, he still had to bring it in order to revive Lovino. He was also a little relieved that Oliver was with him. It wasn’t that he disliked Olivia. In fact, he’d already established that he got over his fear of her, and he actually liked her again now. But Oliver tended to be… Less intense than his female counterpart was, and Feliciano appreciated that.

Feliciano unlocked the front door and lead Oliver upstairs to where Lovino lay on the bed. Blood was stained on the bedsheets, slowly drying, and it still pained Feliciano to see his brother sprawled out, dead.

“Can I make him into a cupcake?” Oliver asked. As ‘less intense’ as he was, some things still remained the same.

“No… You have to revive him.” Feliciano responded, frowning a bit.

“Oh, okay! Do you have the dagger?” Oliver asked, holding his hand out.

Feliciano nodded, “Sì.” He handed the magic dagger to Oliver.

“Oh, Olivia gave you  _ this _ one?” The Brit chuckled, “It must have been a desperate cause.” He turned Lovino over so that he was facing up, and placed the dagger to Lovino’s lips, starting to chant.

Feliciano didn’t really know what Oliver meant by that, but he didn’t like how he said it. He just frowned slightly as Oliver chanted. Just as before, a white light engulfed Lovino as the life energy of Kuro seeped into his brother. …He wasn’t sure how to feel about that, but he was glad that at least his brother would be alive again. Lovino’s wounds began to heal, and then the white light dissipated. Oliver stopped chanting.

“Good luck with this blade, poppet!” Oliver winked, setting it down on the bedside table beside Lovino, and then disappeared.

As Lovino slowly opened his eyes, Feliciano gave a small happy gasp as he rushed to his brother’s side, hugging him. “Vee~ Lovi~”

“F-Feliciano?” Lovino opened his eyes all the way, focusing his gaze on his younger brother.

“Are you alright?” Feliciano asked as he hugged him.

Lovino still seemed a little disoriented, but he nodded. “Sì… E-Everything was so… strange. I think I was close to getting in hell…”

As soon as Feliciano heard that last part, he decided he didn’t want to keep talking about something like that. It made him sad. He didn’t acknowledge it and just continued to hug Lovino. “…I’m happy you’re back, fratello.”

Lovino hugged back, “I guess… It’s good to be home.”

All Feliciano could do was hug his brother tightly. He tried to hold back his tears, but he couldn’t stop thinking about the moments he killed Luciano and Kuro to get his loved ones back. He shuddered in Lovino’s arms, beginning to sob again.

Lovino sat up, frowning, “Fratello, what’s wrong?”

“…Remember when I told you about that dagger?” Feliciano asked, crying as he hugged Lovino tightly.

Lovino hugged back, realizing what he meant by that. “Oh Dio… You must have…” Sympathetic, he nuzzled him gently, “G-Grazie for bringing me back.”

“I h-had to get Luise back too…” Feliciano sobbed, leaning his head on Lovino’s shoulder.

“Oh… Feliciano…” Lovino held his brother close, “This must really suck for your conscience…”

Feliciano could only silently agree as he cried, too busy with that to talk more. He just hugged Lovino tight, trying not to remember such painful things, and Lovino made an attempt at comforting him.

He took Feliciano’s face in his hands, making him look at his older brother. “Feliciano… No matter what you do, no matter who you love, no matter what you say, you will always be my fratello and I will always love you. Alright? Remember that.”

The tears stopped for a second as Feliciano sniffled and managed a smile. He loved his brother so much.

“G-Grazie…” He hiccupped a little, trying to calm down.

“Now do you want some pasta or not?” Lovino asked, attempting a bit of a smile.

“O-Okay…” Feliciano nodded, hugging Lovino a little tighter.

“And if you want some pasta… Let go of me, per favore.” Lovino loosened his own grip a bit. Feliciano did the same, stopping the hug. Lovino gave his brother one last squeeze before standing up, “Now let’s boil hot water.”

Feliciano’s eyes were still red and puffy, but he managed to smile at that, “Okay.”

Lovino began walking away from the bloodstained bed, heading out of the guest bedroom. It may have been his brother’s house, technically, but the two siblings stayed at each other’s places sometimes, so Lovino knew his way around pretty well. He stopped to borrow a shirt from Feliciano, since although his wounds healed, he was still shirtless. Then they headed for the kitchen together.

Feliciano pulled out some of the pasta ingredients, and Lovino grabbed the tomatoes, knife, and cutting board. Holding the knife as he chopped the tomatoes, he said, “Better make fresh sauce, then.”

Hearing those words, Feliciano froze up. Images of Luciano at his mansion, with that smirk of his as he brandished his own knife came into Feliciano’s thoughts. He whimpered softly, trying to forget the sting he felt in his arm as he meekly nodded and filled a pot with water, “S-Sì, I guess so…”

“What’s wrong?” Lovino stopped chopping the tomatoes.

“Luciano wanted to use  _ me _ to make fresh pasta sauce before…” Feliciano said, looking down.

“Oh… Are you okay?” Lovino asked, concerned. Putting down the knife, he hugged his brother tightly.

“…I don’t know anymore.” Feliciano mumbled miserably, hugging Lovino back.

Lovino pressed his nose to the side of Feliciano’s head, “Feliciano… Go wake your German friend. I’ll call you when the pasta is ready, alright?”

“Okay… Grazie.” Feliciano gave his brother a weak smile and a tight squeeze before he let go and began to head back upstairs to fetch the dagger. It didn’t take long, although he wasn’t looking forward to having to bring it again. At least this would be the last time he’d have to use it. He hoped so. Then, he would never have to see the weapon again.

He walked down the stairs, and headed for the front door until Lovino called out from the kitchen. “Fratello, wait!”

Feliciano stopped, looking to the kitchen as Lovino stepped out. He tilted his head. “Sì?”

“Just… say hello to him for me, okay?” Lovino asked.

Did he hear him right? Feliciano stood there for a moment, then smiled slightly. “Okay, fratello.”

He left with his spirits a little higher than they were a second ago. It was nice seeing his brother wanting to be nice, especially to Luddy of all people. Then again, it was hard to not feel bad, and anyone with a heart would know better than to be mean to someone who was in a coma and almost died.

Walking back to the bakery, he thought how often he had to walk there these days. Even before all the ‘Luciano poisoned his fiancée and best friend’ and the ‘2Ps massacred everyone in Canada’s basement’ things, he had to be at Olivia’s place for a while before that too. Though, that was mostly always against his will ever since the opposite potion happened. And after the poisoning happened, Feliciano had to walk there even more to get help from her. He’d have to remember to thank her for helping with pretty much everything so far. He felt like he’d gone there so much, he could walk to her place blindfolded and simply know where to go, and likewise for Matthew’s house. Then again, it was also weird how his eyes were still open. He usually kept them closed, but now—

In any case, he soon realized he arrived at the bakery. He walked in with the dagger.

Luise was still wearing an apron, and it was probably a lucky thing for her that she didn’t have to wear the same sailor outfit Lovino had to wear before. Maybe Olivia just forgot about having to give her a uniform. That, or she just wanted to put Lovino in a skirt because it was, admittedly, funny.

Luise was working the till, while stirring a bowl of cupcake batter at the same time.

The door bell sounded as it was opened and Feliciano walked in. Looking up, Luise saw him and smiled, “Ah, Italy!”

“Ciao!” He smiled back, walking towards her as the last customer in line walked away with some cupcakes.

“Can I go now?” Luise asked, turning to Olivia.

“Oh, of course! Ollie’s almost done changing. I can handle things until then!” Olivia chirped.

“Wait, Olivia,” Feliciano piped up, feeling a little bad about asking her for so many things lately, even if it was going to be the last time, “Sorry to keep asking you for so many things, but can this dagger still help Ludwig wake up too?”

“Of course, love! It nearly killed Lutz, so that should be enough!” Olivia replied with a smile, which made Feliciano feel uncomfortable and guilty.

“…But I still don’t really know how to use it, though.” Feliciano said.

“Oh, that’s right! You can’t use magic!” Olivia exclaimed, “Though, I know who  _ can _ and he should be awake in a few! But he’s  _ really _ so grumpy all the time!”

Feliciano tilted his head, “…You mean Arthur?”

“Yes! It’s been long enough, so he should be okay now.” Olivia smiled.

Matthew said it would take a week for Arthur to wake up. It had been a week. Feliciano stood there, shocked as he took in this information. Had it really been a week? It didn’t feel like it. It felt like… Actually, he wasn’t sure how long this all felt like. It felt like only a couple hours since this all happened, but at the same time, it also felt like forever ago since the last time everything was normal.

Shaking himself out of his stupor, Feliciano flashed a weak smile back at Olivia, “Okay… And grazie for all of your help.”

“Aww, it was no trouble, love!” Olivia beamed, as Oliver came down the stairs.

“I’m coming with you.” Luise said, taking off the apron and handing it to Oliver, “Let’s go, Feliciano.”

“Okay.” Feliciano nodded. Luise walked around to the outside of the counter, and began to walk with the Italian, back to where Matthew’s house was.

Once they got closer to the house, Feliciano could see that the front door, and rather the wall where the front door was, was still completely decimated. He still felt bad that Matthew had to get caught up in all of this in the first place. He was such a nice guy, even if no one really remembered him.

“Who’s house is this again?” Luise asked as they came towards the front steps.

Feliciano squinted a little. “Uh… Canadia’s, I think.”

“I meant to ask before, but how did this happen?” She asked, staring down at the damage beneath her feet.

“Uh… Well, Luciano, Lutz, and Kuro did this when they came here to kill you and Ludwig…” Feliciano explained sadly.

“O-Oh…” Luise hugged him, “Danke…”

He hugged back tightly, but pulled away shortly after, “Should we go see if England’s awake now?”

“Ja… Let’s go.” She nodded. Together, they stepped over the rubble and stepped a few feet inside before noticing that Matthew was trying to repair the interior of his house with Alfred. Some of the walls by the bookshelf and TV were dented and had holes torn in, and the living room table was broken in half.

“‘Sup!” Alfred grinned and waved, seeing Feliciano and Luise walk in.

“Ciao.” Feliciano smiled back a little.

“Any way I can help?” Luise asked, looking around at all the damage.

Matthew began to speak, “Oh, we’re fi—”

“Of course, dudette!” Alfred interrupted.

As Luise was pulled over to help the two brothers, Feliciano stood there. He didn’t know what to do, so he took a seat on the arm of the living room couch for a couple minutes before deciding that he could just go up to see Arthur by himself if no one was really going to mind. “…I’m going to go see if England’s awake now.” He announced, then began heading for the stairs.

“Oh, yes… Sorry, America. He’s my patient. Excuse me…” Matthew followed Feliciano up the stairs, into the room, and walked up to Arthur’s bed. “Okay, he should be up any second…” They watched as Arthur’s eyes began to open, “England?”

“IGGY! DUDE! WAKE UP!” Alfred suddenly rushed in and shouted.

Feliciano jumped at the sudden noise, surprised. Some things really didn’t change. He looked in shock as Alfred ran up beside him, but quickly tried to calm himself. Luise hadn’t followed Alfred up here, so he assumed she was still downstairs. Maybe she was fixing all the walls and stuff by herself. She was really smart and strong, so it was definitely plausible that she could manage that.

“A-America…” Arthur mumbled as he slowly opened his eyes. He stared at Matthew.

“I’m Canada…” Matthew said.

“Oh… T-Tell your brother… To shut up.” Arthur said.

Alfred hadn’t listened, as usual. He jumped onto Arthur while he was still in bed, “Iggy! I was so worried about you!”

Arthur grunted in pain and surprise as Alfred landed on him. “A-America!? Get off!” He shouted.

“Um, England, are you alright?” Feliciano asked, slightly concerned that he had to deal with this kind of stuff just after waking up. Then again, he also felt bad that he was going to have to ask him to use magic right after waking up too.

“I-I think so…” Arthur groaned from under Alfred, who was hugging him tightly.

“Are you alright enough to help me wake up Germany?” Feliciano asked.

“Oh? How?” Arthur asked, trying to push Alfred off of him. Alfred didn’t seem like he wanted to let go anytime soon.

Feliciano fidgeted with his hands a bit, holding onto the dagger, “Well, Olivia gave me this dagger…” He began.

“Can I see it? A-And get off me, you bloody wanker!” Arthur tried to sit up on the bed.

“Nope!” Alfred grinned.

The Brit managed to sit up anyway, even after Alfred was clinging onto him. It was a little concerning, since he had just now woken up from almost dying and being healed from pretty serious looking wounds. But as he sat up, he held out a hand for the dagger. Feliciano gave it to him.

As soon as Arthur touched and caught sight of the dagger, he gasped, almost dropping it.

“Huh? Are you okay?” Feliciano tilted his head.

“I am… B-But not this…” Arthur muttered, staring at the weapon. “This dagger… Its history is a dark one. Why is it covered in blood… that looks like it’s fresh?”

Feliciano whimpered a little. He didn’t want to answer that. “I-I… Uh…”

“Oh… Never mind that. So who do you want to revive?” Arthur asked. Alfred finally released his grip, allowing the Brit to get off the bed.

“I want Ludwig to… To wake up…” Feliciano mumbled, pointing over to Ludwig’s bed.

“Ah, so you didn’t actually kill someone.” Arthur stood up, sounding relieved. Feliciano only teared up, whimpering. Any sense of relief that Arthur felt was replaced with apprehension once again. “Oh… Italy… W-Who else did you revive?” He asked, walking over to Ludwig’s bed as the Italian walked with him.

Feliciano hesitated. He was afraid to tell Arthur what he did. Softly, he said, “My brother and Luise…”

“So, they were asleep?” Arthur looked at the dagger fearfully.

“N-No…” Feliciano shook his head. He began to tear up, the tears spilling down his cheeks before he had a chance to wipe them away.

It was at that moment that Alfred felt the need to shout out, “Stop it, dude! You’re making it worse!”

“Wow, you actually read the mood for once.” Matthew commented.

“O-Oh… I see.” Arthur muttered. He didn’t seem to want to speak about it further, “Well, I’ll get on with it, then.” Stiffly, he placed the dagger on Ludwig’s lips and began to chant magic words. Feliciano could only wallow in his guilt.

After a few moments, Arthur spoke, setting the dagger down on the bed. He turned back towards Feliciano. “There… It’s done.” He then proceeded to fall over into Alfred and Matthew’s arms, who had moved close by while he was still chanting.

“Aw, he’s sleeping!” Alfred grinned, holding onto one side of Arthur.

“That’s about to change if you don’t be quiet.” Matthew said, holding onto the other side.

Feliciano hadn’t been paying much attention to the two brothers, although he was pretty concerned that Arthur was so tired from using magic that after just waking up, he fell asleep again. He felt like he should apologize, but then he also felt like he’d be turning into Matthew for that. But Arthur was still asleep, so doing that was probably no use at the moment.

For now, Feliciano had to be there for Ludwig. The German slowly began to open his eyes, finding that Feliciano was standing over him, watching him intently with slightly teary eyes. Then he rushed up closer, hugging Ludwig.

“Italy…?” Ludwig spoke, still seeming a little disoriented.

“Germany, are you alright?” Feliciano asked, releasing him from the hug a little to look at him. Ludwig nodded, and Feliciano continued to talk. “S-So much happened while you were poisoned and in a coma… Lovi says hi, by the way.”

“Oh…” Ludwig looked sadly at him, then a little surprised at the last part. Lifting Feliciano off the floor and onto his lap in the bed, he began to say, “I’m so sorry that I couldn’t be there for you…”

Despite Feliciano tearing up again, he smiled at Ludwig. “It’s okay… At least you’re here now.”

“Italy…” Ludwig kissed the side of Feliciano’s head, hugging him tightly, “S-So… Anything I should know about?”

Feliciano may have been keeping himself relatively together up until this point, only feeling a few tears welling up, but as soon as Ludwig asked him that, he started breaking down and crying even harder. As he explained every little thing that happened, recalling every painful memory that had happened ever since Ludwig and Luise were poisoned, all his ‘togetherness’ came crashing down. He killed people. He couldn’t get that out of his head. Even though they wanted to do bad things to him, even with all the reassurance that he didn’t have any other choice, he still hated that they were dead because of him.

“I-Italy…” Ludwig continued to hug him, and then wiped his tears away with his thumb, trying to calm him down. His hands rested on Feliciano’s tear-streaked cheeks, “Italy… Listen to me. You did what you had to do, and I’m proud of you.”

“…G-Grazie.” Feliciano sniffled, trying to calm his breathing as he nuzzled into Ludwig’s shoulder.

A few moments later, Feliciano managed to force himself to stop crying. His breathing was still ragged, but it gradually began to slow as he clung to Ludwig. But then his phone rang, stopping the silence between them.

“You should answer that…” Ludwig said.

Feliciano nodded a little in response, and pulled away from the hug to answer his phone. He wiped some of the tears and snot on his face with his sleeve and sniffled, “Ciao?”

“Hey, fratello?” He heard Lovino’s voice coming from the other line, “Pasta’s ready. …How’s that macho potato of yours?”

“He’s awake now…” Feliciano smiled a little. At least that was something to be glad about.

“Buono… I guess…” Lovino answered awkwardly. “So what do you want to do now?”

Feliciano paused for a second, “…I don’t know.”

“…I have an idea.” Lovino seemed a little nervous. He hesitated a bit before ending up saying, “Ah, never mind. It’s stupid.”

Feliciano tilted his head in confusion, “No, no you can tell me, Lovi.”

“W-Well, I’ve been thinking. Everybody’s been through so much, so we could invite our friends and family…” Lovino mumbled a bit, “And future family… To join us for dinner.”

Hearing that idea coming from his brother was rather surprising. But it was really nice. First he wanted to say hi to Ludwig, and now this? He must really want Babbo Natale to visit this year. Feliciano smiled a little more, feeling happy from thinking about doing something as nice as that after everything that happened. “I’d like that. Let’s do it.”

“Okay… Then you guys better get your asses over here. Ciao.” Lovino hung up.

For the first time since everything, Feliciano felt excited for what would happen next. The smile he had from speaking to Lovino stayed there on his face as he put his phone back in his pocket, and then turned to Ludwig. “Do you want to come to dinner with me and my brother?”

“I-If that’s alright with him…” Ludwig said.

“Of course! I’m sure he’ll be alright with you coming.” Feliciano said, “After all, he said hi to you. I think he’s trying to be nice!”

“Oh… Alright.” Ludwig stood up, and lifted Feliciano over his shoulder as he began to walk out of the room.

As Ludwig walked down the stairs, Feliciano spoke up, “I want to ask Luise if she wants to come too.”

“Very well.” The bigger man nodded and began carrying Feliciano down.

Since he was facing backwards, Feliciano couldn’t really see much as he was being carried back to the front door. After walking a bit away from the stairs, however, Feliciano noticed that the walls nearby looked good as new even though there were a lot of dents earlier. Craning his head back, he looked at the front door, and saw that the wall and door were there again instead of a gaping hole. Was that a completely different and brand new looking table in the living room too? Luise was standing in front of the open front door, talking to Matthew and Alfred, who had set Arthur on the couch after he passed out. He wasn’t all that surprised to see all of that, though. Luise installed a tracking device on her own brother, and also, she was German, so Feliciano was pretty sure she could do anything. Especially fix a couple things in Matthew’s house.

“—And the door is bulletproof.” Luise was heard explaining things to the North American brothers.

“Ciao, Luise.” Feliciano waved a bit from behind Ludwig.

“Guten tag, Italy, Ludwig.” She said, handing over an instruction manual to Matthew.

“Do you want to come over for dinner with me, Lovi, and Luddy?” Feliciano asked.

She nodded. “Ja, okay.” Then Luise patted Matthew on the head before walking off to Ludwig’s side, “You have better sense than your brother about gun laws.”

“Hey!” Alfred shouted out.

“…So let’s go now?” Feliciano asked, trying to look up at Ludwig.

“Sure.” Ludwig nodded, and lifted Feliciano up to hand him over to Luise, who began to carry him out the door bridal style. He clung onto her, a little happier now that he was going to eat dinner with his family and friends.

Even with all this happy stuff happening, though, Feliciano still couldn’t shake the guilt in the back of his thoughts. From the start of everything, he just wished life could go back to the way it always was, and now it was all over. He finally got what he wanted. But he didn’t believe he deserved a happy ending. He still felt on edge, like at any moment,  _ something _ bad would happen yet again to ruin his happiness just like it usually did lately. He was even starting to feel as if the absence of the dagger in his hand was strange, and it worried him.

Where did he leave the dagger anyway? A wave of panic washed over him before realizing that likely, no one was out there to get him and possibly try to use the weapon against him anymore, now that the 2P Axis… were unable to. He left it on the bed at Matthew’s place, and Matthew was responsible, and nice, so he was probably going to take care of that for him if he found it. Hopefully. He was glad about that. He never had to see it again now.

Feliciano didn’t want to think about this. But he couldn’t stop thinking about it. So he attempted to focus on the positives for now, instead. No one was going to hurt him. They were all going to have dinner together. Everything was over now. Everything was okay.

He had a dinner to get to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally finished this chapter! :D  
> things look like they're starting to wrap up now that we're in the falling action, and there's most likely one chapter left to go until the story's over ^^  
> but don't worry! again, the next story in the series is still gonna have a whole lot more of Luciano and opposite potion shenanigans too, so that's something to look forward to!


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